Fairy Tales Aren't Easy
by Neospice12
Summary: Haru is a growing girl who aspires to find love. Yamamoto is a boy who attracted to this bright girl, and Dino is like a fairy tale prince. Who will Haru fall for? Haru x Dino, slight Haru x Yamamoto D86 slight 8086 TRADE FOR DiveToWorld
1. Prologue: Once Upon a Time

Before we start I just want to say that this will be ever so slightly AU, I think. The shimon arc and everything after it has NEVER occurred in this story. Why? Well I don't know the effects of how it changed anyone yet in the story and I can't write for a story incorporating events I don't even know about.

So we'll pretend the shimon people, and whatever seems to be going on after the shimon arc (maybe the vindice?) will NOT be in this fic. Other than that, everything is the same 8)

Now, some of you may be aware by now and some may not be aware but DiveToWorld and I have set up a trade with each other. She is giving me a 10-14 chapter story and I shall do the same with her. 8) WISH ME LUCK!

Ah just in case anyone is curious: .net/s/7185510/1/Thats_My_Seat

Disclaimer: KHR does not in fact belong to me. It belongs to Akira Amano, and this is all fanbased thus no form of copyright is being violated. IF KHR were to belong to me, WHY ISN'T HARU SURROUNDED BY SEXY MALE HAREMS ALREADY! HA HA XD

* * *

><p><strong>PROLOGUE: Once Upon a Time…<strong>

"You want to hear my story that I have to tell you?"

"Are you sure?"

"Well then, listen carefully for this tale I have to tell you is one that is close to my heart:

A princess was taken away from her homeland for her kingdom was under attack.

She was not taken away by an ally but a rogue brownie who was looking out to cause some trouble once again.

He took the girl to his village where the chief realized the grave sin he has caused, and ordered the brownie to return the princess.

The young brownie had not understood what he had done wrong and was angered by the threat of being banished from the village if he had not done the right thing.

He was to return her, but the kingdom was under a frenzy under enemy attack. The Kingdom's safety mechanized barrier was up so no new person could go through the kingdom's gates.

The princess's only hope was to wait for the invasion to end.

The Brownie decides to take her to a safer place, walking on for a great length distance.

The princess did not utter a noise or complaint the whole way.

After a long run, the girl drops to the ground tiredly, and this is when the Brownie realizes just how tired the child was.

Why did she not cry? Why did she not complain?

Upon further inspection he realized that she could not speak!

Why is this? He asked the little girl and she could only shake her head and shrug her shoulders.

She herself did not know, how was she to know?

The brownie sat on the ground, stumped.

The Sands of time!

The brownie quickly took her and he rushed her to the sands of time, where a person's past could be reflected into it.

Apparently, right before the raid, the parents thought that if she were to reveal that she was the princess, her life would not be spared. They have fed her a potion that would take away her voice leaving her speechless.

She was going to be sent to a safe place when she was tricked by the brownie.

The Brownie being distraught by this, decides to take the princess to a magical lake next.

They travelled on foot for a bit longer until they came upon a lake.

The princess sank her aching feet into the water and the swelling and the aching feeling had disappeared.

The leaning willow spoke to the princess:

"Child, you have something strong placed onto you. Perhaps it has affected your throat child? Could you not speak?"

The princess could only nod hopelessly at the speaking willow tree.

"Well then dearie, let this old tree help you. Have your brownie friend climb to the top and find a peculiar looking leaf. He shall roll it up and fill it up with the water from this lake. If you drink it, you should be cured."

The Princess looked upon her Brownie friend pleadingly and he had climbed to the top of the tree for her and did as the willow said and her voice had returned!

What a miracle!

Once her voice had returned her first words she spoke was:

"Thank you dear Brownie friend, without you I may have gotten involved in a dangerous situation. You are willing to go through so much for me. I must thank you."

The gratitude of the Brownie embarrassed him so he decided to go search for food thinking she would be hungry.

The Brownie runs off and he soon returns with food.

The Princess though feels as though something is amiss but she could not put her finger on the problem.

"Now Princess, please quickly eat so we can return you home."

The Princess questioned the Brownie who morphed and changed it's body to show an evil elf that served under the invading army!

The Brownie jumped into action blinding the elf with the cleansing water of the lake.

The two ran to the nearby kingdom of Flowers.

Once running into the Kingdom, they run into a handsome young man, the prince of the kingdom. For safety reasons, the Princess does not reveal her identity and says that she's just a poor merchant girl who has lost her family and home.

The Prince helps the Princess by sheltering her for a while out of the kindness of his heart.

She gets habituated and she finds herself roaming through the rose garden maze, and finds herself in a dark forest.

The forest starts to frighten her with the frightening monsters, and her Brownie friend finds her and rescues her from the evils.

When she made it out of the forest and the rose garden maze, the Prince greets her questioning her about her Brownie friend, who normal humans could not see.

It was not common knowledge, but his mother was a powerful mystical creature as well so he could see things that normal humans could not.

The Princess is invited to walk through the town with the Prince when she suddenly gets attacked by a warrior who belonged to the invading army that attacked her kingdom.

The Prince fights the wrong elf warrior and captures him, to take it into questioning.

Within the questioning, the Prince learns that she had been a Princess, and that the army planned to invade his kingdom next.

Alerting both the Princess and his father, the kingdom prepares for war and the Princess goes into hiding in the dark forest once more with her Brownie friend.

The War goes on for many days and nights, the Princess tires and wishes to know how the war is going but the Brownie prevents her from doing so.

Why?

She was a princess, she could possibly be the last of the monarchy, she could not leave and risk her life.

The Princess could only sit and wait, weeping over the darkness of her broken heart.

After a long wait, the war had ended with the Kingdom's win.

As celebration, a big ball was being held at the castle, and the Princess was specially invited by the Prince.

A big bird flew down:

"Young Brownie, you have been summoned by the great Brownie of your village. Come with me."

The Brownie joins the bird and leaves the Princess in the temporary care of the Prince.

The Princess attends the ball, and there the Prince pledges his undying love for the Princess, asking for her hand in marriage.

Before she could answer him, the big bird swooped down again and the Brownie jumped off the bird carrying big news.

The Brownie searched for the Princess in the crowd, and once he had:

"Princess! It is horrible! The Kingdom had collapsed! Your mother and father have both fallen! Only you can take over the throne and return peace to the mythical creatures!"

The Princess was heartbroken having to choose between the love of her life and her duty to her kingdom.

When the Princess started to weep over the conflictions of her heart the Prince said:

"Cry not Princess, for I am not the crowned Prince but my older brother. I mind not marrying into your kingdom and together we shall build your kingdom back to its prime."

Overjoyed by these words, the Princess readily agrees to get married to the Prince.

The two work together to rebuild the kingdom and they both lived happily ever after."

The room was in silence…

"Wow Haru that was a cute story~" Kyoko giggled at her friend.

"Isn't it? It was Haru's favorite story as a child." Haru sighed happily, looking up in the air with sparkles in her eyes.

"I've read that story I think when I was a child as well. I did have a particular fondness of the story." Kanna admitted.

"Well it's a great story I wouldn't blame you." Haru grinned, feeling her chest well with pride that they seemed to approve of her story.

"Story very happy!" I-pin added.

"It was a very cute story Haru-chan. I couldn't help but overhear the story from the kitchen." Nana chuckled.

"A very interesting story. It goes to prove that love can conquer all and is nothing that one should sell out too short." Bianchi nodded with a satisfied look on her face.

"I think I liked the Brownie the most. He was very useful and kind." Chrome stated.

"Haru agrees! Haru LOVES this story. She wishes for her love life to turn out like this. She aspires to marry someone just like the Prince." Haru sighed happily.

Haru and the other girls sighed happily along with her.

"That is so stupid. That could never happen. Like he coincidentally could just marry into her family?" Gokudera huffed angrily.

"It is a bit corny but it's cute…it was a good story Haru." Tsuna chuckled nervously.

Ryohei was laying on the ground snoring up a storm until he got kicked by his sister.

"H-huh? What? Oh! Uh my favorite part of the story was when the Prince punched out the kangaroo."

"That never happened Nii-chan."

"It didn't? Well then did the prince at least box someone out?"

"No, Nii-chan." Kyoko sighed at her brother's odd questions.

"What? Then the story wasn't worth listening to." Ryohei crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.

"Hahi! Haru hates you all-desu." Haru puffed her cheeks out angrily and she glared at them all.

"I thought it was a GREAT story." Kyoko said patting her friends back throwing a sad look over at Tsuna who was thinking about taking back his comment about it being corny.

"Maa maa, I thought the story was cute. It makes Haru really happy after all." Yamamoto laughed. The look of Haru's face when telling the story was quite the sight.

The way her face lit up when she got to her favorite parts?

It was a wonderful sight to see and it made his heart flutter about inside of his chest.

Yamamoto of course blamed it on his lack of exercise for the day so his body was exercising itself.

"It was an interesting story, I think I may have heard of it once back in Italy." Dino commented.

"Now that I think about it. The man looks somewhat like the prince from the story." Kanna commented.

Everyone looked at the blonde Mafioso intently.

"Ha, maybe Haru will end up getting married to Haru. Ha ha!" Gokudera laughed.

"That's not funny to laugh at Haru-desu." Haru huffed.

"Well you know, I don't think that would work out anyways. I don't really go for those who are much younger than me." Dino said.

The atmosphere in the room seemed rather tense for a moment.

"Well Haru plans on finding her very own prince. Once she finds him, she'll capture him with her charms." She said ready to chuck a pillow at Gokudera if he happened to say anything to her.

"Ha! What charms?- oof! Hey stupid Haru! What was that for!" Gokudera shouted.

"That. Was for being a jerk!" Haru shouted.

Could Haru find the prince she was looking for? Or was he in the room already?

Who was in denial? Who had love stirring inside of him and he didn't know it? Who was already in love with her?

Only time could surely tell.

* * *

><p>Ha, did I fool anyone into thinking that the beginning story was about Haru's life? HA HA! Nope! It was just a fairy tale that her mother read to her all the time. WA HAHAHAHA<p>

Anyways, like it? Hate it? Love it? Whichever it is, if you are reading this thank you for reading!

Hope you stick around to see the rest of this!

I figured out the basic outline of the whole story before writing this all out. So I should be quicker at updating this than my other stories which I made up as I went along with the story. XD

Hope you enjoyed it!

Until next time!

-Neospice12

Ps: This is just the prologue so it doesn't count for one of the 10-14 chapters that was set for the trade.


	2. 1: Sands of Time Have Moved

Well then here is chapter 1! The official start of the fic. The prologue was just a story enhancer really. It will help give more impact to this chapter, thus I wrote it this way. I really hope that you will all come to enjoy this chapter and the rest of the story. I love to know that people enjoy my work.

So I hope you have fun reading!

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Sad, I know.

* * *

><p><strong>Sands of Time Have Moved<strong>

"The Flight to Japan has landed, thank you for flying with Japan Airlines. Please walk out of exit 15 and have a nice day."

"Ah… it's nice to be back in Japan. It's been a while since I've been here. I wonder how everyone is doing."

Light brown eyes peered around the airport looking for any familiar faces. Reborn had sent for him, and told him that someone was going to wait for him.

"Hm… now who was it that was going to come to get me?" He wondered taking out a folded letter from his pocket, unfolding it to read its contents.

"Haru, huh? I haven't seen her in a really long time. I wonder what she looks like now." Dino scanned around the area not able to find anyone in particular.

'Woah, who is THAT?' Dino's eyes stopped at a woman who was digging through her bag looking for something.

He lowered his sunglasses that he was wearing to get a better look at her.

The woman had long dark brown hair that slightly curled at the ends. Her bangs fell over her forehead delicately.

She was of average height of a Japanese woman, and her body was rather nicely matured as well. She wasn't that type of skinny that made people cringe, she was the perfectly healthy type of skinny.

She was thin, but she wasn't like anorexic ally skinny, don't get him wrong, she was shapely.

She had enough on her body to make her hourglass figure.

She was wearing a v-neck light blue sweater with a dark blue denim skirt that stopped at her mid-thighs.

Could he add that her thighs were nice?

Those nice slender legs of hers had a nice creamy complexion to them.

She was wearing ankle high black heels.

Damn, her outfit just made her look that much better.

Her big, clear, chocolate brown eyes shinned with a sense of warmth in them.

"Just where is that note? I can't find it." The woman huffed.

Her voice rang like beautiful bells ringing in a silent church.

Woah, wait a minute! He had to look for Haru, why was he oogling at this woman?

Well, she was pretty hott- okay hott was an understatement but you know what he meant.

Dino's eyes went back to scanning around the area when he saw a young girl with dark brown hair, tied up in a ponytail, looking around the area frantically.

"A-Ano… I can't find him, where is he? I'm in trouble." The little girl started to panic.

Dino chuckled, and he shook his head. "That girl never changes." He smiled.

"Haru, there you are, I was looking for you."

"Hm? Hello, you look like a prince!"

"Well you told me that 2 years ago, and I thank you, but shall we get going?"

"Sunako! I found you! Don't make me have to look everywhere for you. I told you, if you get lost you just stay in place. Ah thank you for keeping my sister here." A man ran up to the little girl he was just talking to.

"Nii-chan! I found you!" The girl smiles and she jumps into his arms.

"… Um… you're welcome." Dino stared in astonishment as the girl was whisked away by her older brother.

'If that isn't Haru, then where is she?'

"Dino-san? Is that you? I almost hadn't recognized you since you're wearing sunglasses and that hat." The very attractive woman from before tapped his shoulder and spoke to him.

"Ah… who may you be? I'm looking for a friend of mine named Haru. Let's see… I haven't seen her in a while. She should be maybe 16 now?" Dino tried to recall the specifics.

"You don't know who I am, Dino-san?"

"I'm not really sure. You look somewhat like my little friend Haru, but that wouldn't be true, she should still be a little girl." Dino said sighing a bit a bit conflicted by this.

"Dino-san, the last time you saw me was when I was 16, it's been 2 years since then. Just because you haven't seen me in two years, that does not mean that I stop growing-desu. I'm 18 now-desu." Haru chuckled at Dino's look of surprise on his face.

"Y-you're HARU? Wow! Time was very friendly with you Haru. You've grown so much. I almost did not recognize you. You've grown so much." Dino complimented her still mentally baffled by the woman standing right in front of him. He looked at her from head to toe once more still not accepting what he was seeing with his eyes.

"Are you sure that's you? I just can't believe my eyes. You look like a woman now."

"Why thank you very much Dino-san. Time was pleasant to you as well. Still as dashing and handsome as ever. Though Haru is 18, she would hope that she's looking more like a woman by now." Haru smiled her classic bright smile.

Her smile just seemed to radiate a certain glimmering shine to it.

It was stunning to say the least!

Just who, he asked did such a young girl grow into such a beautiful lady in just two years span?

Well as they say you take your eyes off of a woman, the next time you see her, she'll be completely transformed.

Haru Miura here seemed to be the perfect example of this saying.

"Dino-san? Are… you ready to go now? Reborn-san is waiting for you." She said.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Well then Haru, lead the way." Dino said following closely behind her as she was leading him the way out of the airport and to the meeting place so he could talk to Reborn.

"So why exactly did Reborn ask you to escort me and not any of the guys?" Dino asked her.

"Hm… I actually don't know that myself-desu. You may have to ask him yourself." Haru admitted honestly as she whistled for the taxi.

"Please take us to this address written on this note." Haru handed him a folded not.

"Will do lil miss."

The two got into the taxi cab and waited to reach their destination.

Haru was staring out of the window watching the sky as the sun was starting to set.

"It's a beautiful sunset." Dino commented.

"Yes, it is isn't it? I just love how the colors all seem to mix together, the reds, the blues, the yellows and the pinks." Haru sighed happily at the ever changing scene in front of her.

"You're right, it's like a painter's tablet as he mixes all of the colors to create his masterpiece." Dino described the beautiful scene that was occurring in front of them.

"So, are you to an 'item' or something?" The driver asked, looking back at them from the rear view mirror.

"Oh no, not at all sir. Just acquaintances." Dino denied.

"That's right, Haru still needs to find her own prince." Haru smiled determinedly, very sure of her ability to find herself a prince.

"Well it won't take you that long lil miss. You've got the looks, and you seem to have a nice head on your shoulders." The Driver laughed.

"Why thank you for the kind words, Taxi driver-san. I do hope to find my prince soon. It's been my dream ever since I was a child." Haru giggled.

So no matter how much time had passed, Haru's sense of romanticism has never changed at all. She was still the cute, bubbly, loving girl she was when he first met her 4 years ago at the age of 14.

"So what are you doing now?" He asked.

"Well if you mean in my daily life, Haru is attending her final year of high school. I decided to transfer to the Namimori high school so I could be around all of my friends." Haru explained.

"Well that's good, so how is everyone doing?" He asked her.

"Everyone is doing just fine-desu. It's great to see everyone doing so well." Haru smiled casting her look over at Dino's face.

"Well then here we are, we're at the place." The Taxi driver said.

"Thank you very much." Haru said digging through her bag to get her purse.

"You don't have to worry about that Haru, I can take care of it." Dino said placing the money in the bin for the man. "You can keep the change." He added.

"A-are you sure Dino-san?" Haru questioned not wanting to bother him since this was not his native country or anything. Also, SHE was to be escorting HIM, so shouldn't she be taking care of these things?

"It's no problem at all Haru. Just let me take care of it. You don't have to worry your pretty little head none." Dino smiled at her warmheartedly, ruffling her hair a bit.

"Please don't do that-desu. Haru works hard to keep her hair orderly." She pouted.

"Thank you kindly." The Taxi driver thanked him and waited for them to walk into the building before he drove off.

"Isn't this Yamamoto's family restaurant?" Dino asked.

"Why yes it is, I'm surprise that you still remember what it looks like. You could remember the restaurant, but not my face after all." Haru giggled.

"That's because you to be such a beautiful woman. I haven't expected you to grow up this much." Dino boldly stated.

"Ha-hahi! Haru can't believe you said something so embarrassing without any sign of hestitation-desu!" Haru's face flushed a bit and she twiddled her fingers together nervously.

"There we go, I thought that something was missing. It isn't Haru if she doesn't say 'hahi' at least once." Dino chuckled ruffling her hair once more.

"D-Dino-san! Please stop doing that-desu. Haru's hair will get ruined." Haru pouted.

"Even so you'd still be beautiful." Dino grinned as the two of them walked in and Reborn was waiting for them in one of the booths.

"Good to see that you escorted Dino just fine Haru." Reborn praised her on a job well done just now noticing the slight discoloration of her cheeks.

"Thank you Reborn-san. I'm just going to go and talk to Yamamoto-kun then." Haru slowly excused herself from the booth and she quickly sped off to find a safe haven within a friend.

Dino couldn't help but watch her as she sped away.

It still amazed him on how much she had really grown in two years. Unbelievable.

"She's grown a lot hasn't she?" Reborn's voice broke Dino's attention away from the young female.

"A-ah yeah she has. She's grown a lot since the last time I've seen her. It gave me such a shock." Dino answered with a nervous laugh.

"Hmph, I thought you'd say that. You see now that Haru isn't such a small girl anymore is she? It almost makes it seem like age is only but a number and nothing else." Reborn said.

"Yeah I suppo- what are you trying to say Reborn?" Dino questioned him suspiciously.

"Nothing, if you don't understand what I mean by now you've still got a long ways to go. So you managed to come to Japan without any of your men following. Good job, now that we are alone, time to talk about what I called you here for…

Dino listened to what Reborn had to say carefully pushing out all unnecessary thoughts from his mind, but for some reason Haru's image would occasionally pop into his mind.

Was this a sign? Or was this just him trying to get over his shock?

It seemed that only Reborn knew the truth.

* * *

><p>DONE! I'm hoping that this was pretty okay for you all. I wanted to do a time skip. I'm sure by now some of us know that I really love time skips. It gives it a more edge to it I think.<p>

Why?

Haru was a young girl, and Dino had no interest in her, but after not seeing her for a while, she shocks him with her new appearance. She's grown to be beautiful. It's like a nice transition in a way. I thought it was a nice effect. Gives it more emphasis to the words he said in the prologue.

He's going to eat them words… HA HA HA!

If you're reading this DiveToWorld, I really hope that you're starting to like this even more~

Well until next time!

BAH I'm too lazy to copy and paste the normal thing. If you want the link to my forum is on my profile page. Have fun.

-Neospice12


	3. 2: Curative Lake of Ages

**THIS IS IMPORTANT!**

**I'M QUITTING FANFICTION SOON!-**

HA, I bet that got everyone's attention! *cough cough* Um… sorry about that complete lie. I'm not quitting… at least not yet.

Though I am going to be slowing down on the writing. I can't update like 2 or 3 times in a day. I'm serious, like my finger's joints are hurting me, my wrist hurts, and the pain shoots up my forearm. This pain only applies to my right arm and it only hurts when I type. It sort of kinda hurts… a good bit.

The fact that it's like this, and it's usually like this when I type a whole lot, so I've decided to take a little break sorta. I'm not going to start slaving away at the keyboard typing. (Though I'd like to, some of these fics are getting fun) I just may type every once in a while.

I've also got my grandmother and my cousin visiting for a month from the mother country. I've been appointed to teach the chicklet (What I personally call younger children) how to speak/write English. So I'll be really busy. In other words, I should be updating slower.

Also that 59861880 thing? SO HARD MAN. It'll take me some time to get it figured out. Be patient with me. I'll update whenever I can. Hope y'all can be patient with me.

ONTO THE FIC!

Disclaimer: Honestly, do you need to see this? It's FANFICTION for a reason. Nothing belongs to me.

* * *

><p><strong>Curative Lake of Ages<strong>

After Dino and Reborn had talked about whatever it was they wanted to talk about, Dino had soon left back to Italy.

He had to make sure that he returned without making it seem that he had left in the first place.

Haru went to live her life as she had normally.

She went to school like a normal girl, hung out with friends like a normal girl, and had crushes like a normal high school girl.

She couldn't help but think about the words that Dino had said to her that day. Her face would just heat up whenever she thought about it.

All of that thinking had even affected her studies. She had a test coming up and she couldn't focus on her and she was positive that she bombed the test.

Most of her answers were all plain guesses. It was the biggest disappointment of her high school career and she was feeling down.

Haru was slowly making her way to her favorite place in the Namimori park in attempt to cheer herself up.

It was at the edge of the park where there was a pond that was named 'Lake Fish', why you ask?

The pond was the home of many fishes and, 'Pond Fish' just didn't seem right, so they named it 'Lake Fish'. Odd, but it worked so why not?

Haru made her way over there and noticed someone sitting under her favorite tree. It was the biggest tree in the area and there was a perfect view of pond.

Haru squinted her eyes and could make out a figure of a male, perhaps around her age?

He had short black hair that spiked up at the top.

He seemed to be pretty tall and his body was rather well-built. He must have been an athlete of sorts.

On his side was a blue bag that most sports people carried around with them. It was long and skinny, so it probably held a baseball bat.

Hm… only one person that Haru knew seemed to fit that description.

The guy turned to look in her direction and waved his hand over at her.

"Yo, Haru! What's up?" She heard a familiar greeting coming from the lovable baseball player.

"Hello Yamamoto-kun." Haru waved at him, greeting him back. "Mind if I sit next to you?" She asked him with a smile.

"Hm? Ah, yeah sure I don't mind." Yamamoto said with a shocked look on his face which was soon replaced with a look of worry. "Haru…? Are you… okay?" He asked her.

"Hai? What would make you think that I wasn't alright?" Haru asked him wondering to herself just how he was always able to tell when she was in a bad mood. She's gotten pretty good at her acting too. The only ones who could tell how she was really feeling was her mother, Kyoko and Yamamoto himself.

"Come on Haru, you know you can't fool me. I can tell when you are being less enthusiastic than normal. Usually, you'd be like: "Hello Yamamoto-kun!~ How are you today?" and then run up to me and sit down regardless of what I thought." Yamamoto said, putting on a little act when he was reenacting how he thought she would greet him.

"I suppose you're right-desu. Haru would probably do something like that. Though you don't give Haru enough credit, if she felt that you wouldn't like me sitting next to you I'd ask for permission first." She said.

"Though you know that I'll always say yes." Yamamoto said throwing a pebble into the pond, making the water ripple and he smiled watching as the ripples slowly extended outwards of where the pebble broke through the water.

"Yes, so I suppose I normally wouldn't ask then." Haru said watching the water ripples extend outwards moving slower as they went further out of the pond.

"So what's bothering you? You can tell me if you want, I don't mind listening to you." He said leaning against the tree casting her a harmless smile.

Haru looked at him and she let out a small amused snort. Over the years Yamamoto and she have gotten rather close. They would talk about some random things all the time, hanging out every once in a while and just get along well in general.

Haru found him very easy to talk to because he was so kind, gentle, and understanding. He had a certain positive attitude about him that she found so very endearing.

As she's grown up over the years, so has he. He's grown to be very tall, with a very nicely built body which he had sports to thank for.

His facial structures have lost their more adorable childish look, and were replaced with a matured, more adult-like look.

You could not look at his face and think that he was a boy that loved playing with little children in the parks and playing around in the parks.

His face just oozed a manly aura, very calm and serious which was common amongst sports players, but with his own personal softness, he still had a sense of approachability about him.

While he couldn't smile his adorably carefree smile the same way anymore, his eyes were still as passionate as they were 4 years ago.

Yamamoto did not need a bright smile on his face to show you that he really enjoyed his time playing baseball. His golden amber eyes would shine with anticipation, eagerness, extreme concentration, and surprisingly enough, kindness.

He played baseball for the fun of the sport and he played with pride for the sport practicing for hours on end without complaining and never thinking of any foul plays to disrespect his favorite sport.

Yamamoto had defined chin, a set of strong, noble looking eyes, and strong reliable looking wide shoulders that held the weight of the safety and happiness of his friends.

If you could recall, Yamamoto was a hot subject back in middle school. Wow, if you thought he was popular then? Look at him now!

He was a STUD, pretty much a chick magnet. He was almost a Japanese version of Dino Cavallone.

He's got the looks, the kindness, the chivalry, the strength, though fortunately for him he didn't have Dino's clumsiness.

Any female in their school would die over the chance to date him, but Haru Miura the very woman who could talk to him without any reserve didn't really have those ideas in her head. She could only see him as a friend, much to Yamamoto's dismay.

Why wasn't Yamamoto dating anyone yet?

I'll tell you why- the naïve, knock out brown haired young woman right in front of him.

He was considered one of the most handsome guys at Namimori High along with the other tenth generation guardians.

Namimori did not just have one school idol anymore but two, Haru Miura and Kyoko Sasagawa.

It didn't take a brain surgeon to know that Yamamoto harbored feelings for Haru Miura, but either she was just that dense or she chose not to acknowledge it wanting to keep their friendship intact.

Whichever the case was, Yamamoto accepted what they had as it was and didn't bother to press on further knowing that Haru was interested in someone else.

It broke his heart to pieces, little tiny, itty bitty pieces, but if it were for Haru's happiness he'd accept all the pain.

Whenever Haru was down, she lost her energy, her radiance, and most importantly the beautiful smile upon her face.

Yamamot just couldn't watch her when she was in a state like that and he would always try anything in his power just to cheer her back up.

Haru could never thank her enough, almost always finding herself walking to where he was when she was troubled.

"So you aren't thinking about Dino-san right?" He asked her referring to when Dino visited the restaurant recently. She had gone to find him and she poured out her current feelings to him.

She was just so flustered she couldn't wait to see Kyoko next time to tell her about what had happened.

Yamamoto almost seemed like a guy friend who could listen to her like a girl friend recently. That's probably an insult to his 'manly pride' but he never really seemed to mind it so Haru never really paid it a second though.

"While Haru is still a bit bothered by that, that is not what Haru is depressed about-desu." Haru sighed remembering just what was making her feel so down in the first place.

"Then what is it?" Yamamoto asked her.

"It's… about school." Haru sighed shaking her head. "Haru was to study for a big test, and she's been so distracted that she hadn't been able to study that well and she swears that she failed the test. I'm sure that I bombed it." Haru ruffled her hair in aggravation, angry with herself.

"Is that it? Ha ha ha!" Yamamoto just let out a hearty laugh.

"Ha-hahi! I'm truly bothered by this Yamamoto-kun." Haru huffed.

"Ha ha, I'm sorry Haru, but I was anticipating something more pressing than that. Haru, you've still got the rest of the year. It's nothing for you to worry your little head over too much." He said.

"Haru has never failed a test that bad." Haru pouted, sniffling a bit.

"Ah come on Haru, you don't know that you failed just yet. You could always pick it up. You are really smart. Don't cry over something like this Haru. I don't like to see you cry…" Yamamoto told her with a frown on his face, feeling a pang in his chest when he saw her like this.

Likewise, whenever Haru saw Yamamoto with a frown, she couldn't help but want to turn that frown upside down.

"You're right Yamamoto-kun. I could bring myself back up. I could do this." Haru smiled happily jumping onto her feet. "I can do this!" She shouted loudly.

"Ha ha! Yeah you can. I'm sure of it." Yamamoto laughed smiling to himself, happy that Haru was back to her chipper self.

"Thank you for listening to me Yamamoto-kun~" Haru knelt down and she hugged him and he returned the warm hug.

"You're welcome. Always willing to listen; have been for 4 years." He said.

"You're right, and it always seems to be under this tree." She said looking up at her favorite tree.

"That's why I'm always here during my free time." He laughed.

"Yamamoto-kun is so funny-desu. I think that any girl would be lucky to go out with you." Haru said.

Yamamoto was considering asking her, 'Then what about you?' but he stopped himself from saying so.

"If you ever find yourself interested in a girl I want to know. I would like to know who you fell for. She must be a wonderful person." Haru said fantasizing about what the wonderful female could be like. She was sure that they would both become great friends.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'd be wonderful. I'll be sure to tell you if the occasion ever arises." Yamamoto said throwing another pebble into the pond with a distant look on his face.

"Ah, it's getting late, Haru has to go home now. Speaking of which, don't you have to go home too Yamamoto-kun? You'll be late to start working." She said.

"Ah! Yabe!('no good') You're right! Pops will kill me! I've gotta go! Ah see you later at school Haru. Thanks for reminding me!" Yamamoto bolted onto his feet and he ran for it when he remembered that his life would be in trouble if he didn't get back home in time.

Haru giggled, only able to laugh at Yamamoto's silly antics and she walked herself home as well.

* * *

><p>W-WUHH! I'm. So. MEAN! I-I-I couldn't help but feel so bad for Yamamoto when I wrote this. WUH! Why does Yamamoto always seem to be in triangles and usually lose in the triangles when I write them? Yamamoto! I swear I'll write a story for you in the future where you'll end up with Haru! QAQ<p>

I ask you all, just who felt completely bad for him? Did anyone want to just cry for him like I did? (Funny since I'm the one writing this) Why am I so mean to him? Oh gosh, I'm so horrible.

Well, regardless I hope you all enjoyed it anyways.

Now… I tell y'all to look at my forum right? I've been telling you recently that you should right? Well… there may be an incentive for you to go. *coughcough* You should check it out soon if you are interested in "Pet Sitting Woes" and "White Feathers, Friend or Foe?" CHECK IT:

http:/forum(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/forum/Neospices_Happy_Hour_KHR_Chatting_Forum/91412/

(Yep I decided to change the link that I used)

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

-Neospice12


	4. 3: The Deceiving Heart

WHOO! Another chapter is finished! I wonder when I'll have the time to really get some work in. Then again it all depends on how lazy I do get or don't get as well. Ha ha.

Well anyways I really do hope that you all can come to like this chapter as well and grow to like this story even more.

We now see that there is some trouble brewing. It's not KHR if there isn't a bit of drama right?

Disclaimer: Nothing here belongs to me, just Akira Amano, thus this is up here on fanfiction.

* * *

><p><strong>The Deceiving Heart<strong>

Haru was walking down the streets holding a bag of some things that her mother had asked for her to get. She was a loving daughter who did as she was told.

She was on her way home when she saw someone up ahead looking around as if he were looking for someone.

"Hm… I wonder where she is? I thought she was going to be around here."

The man seemed to have golden blond-ish hair, that was pretty long, perhaps around chin length, and they would fray out.

He was also wearing a jacket that had some fur outlining around the hood. Now, only one person she knew looked like that.

Upon further inspection, Haru's suspicions were deemed correct when she saw Dino walking around almost in circles looking for something, or rather someone.

"Dino-san? What are you doing here?" Haru quickly walked right up to him, looking at him questioningly.

"Ah, hey there, I was looking for an acquaintance of mine. So what are you doing right now?"

"Hm… well I was in the midst of completing an errand for my mother." Haru said holding up her bag for him to see.

"Hm… I see, it's good to know that you are being so helpful and kind to your mother. What a nice thing to do. Would you like for me to help you? A beautiful young woman such as yourself shouldn't bother yourself with such tasks." He said with a dazzling smile.

Haru was taken aback for a moment. Dino… was being a bit more forward than he normally was, right? Maybe she was thinking too much on it.

"Um… okay then… so what are you doing back in Japan Dino-san? You told me that you were coming back soon, but Haru didn't think that you would come back so soon." Haru said.

Dino looked at her with a smile, a smile a bit more charming that she remembered it being. Dino had always flashed her friendly smiles her way, but this time around, it seemed a bit more… how do you say it? Seductive? Maybe flirty? Perhaps even SUGGESTIVE?

"I just had some business to attend to. While we are on the topic, where is Haru? I'm looking for her we were to meet up here a while ago." Dino said looking above her head as if looking for Haru when she was right in front of him.

"Hahi? Do you know another Haru, Dino-san? Haru is right in front of you-desu. Are you confused from jetlag Dino-san? Perhaps I should take you to Tsuna-kun." Haru was worried about Dino.

"Wh- … ah ha ha ha, you're probably right, I must be really confused from the jetlag." Dino laughed rubbing the back of his head with one of his hands, his other reaching into his jacket's pocket slowly.

Haru couldn't help but feel this naggy feeling at the back of her mind. Something felt off. Dino was acting differently, he was looking for her when she was right in front of him, and… everything just seemed odd. She couldn't place her finger on it though.

"Well then, why don't you lead me to Tsuna-kun's house? I think I forgot my way there." Dino asked of her with a small chuckle.

Haru looked at him skeptically. Surely he knew where Tsuna's house was, why would she have to lead him there? Something was definitely wrong. No matter how jet laggy he was, he couldn't possibly forget where Tsuna lived.

"Dino-san? I'm not sure, but-" "Haru! Get down!"

Haru heard Yamamoto shout, and after years of being used to the mafia-business, Haru knew better than to ask why she should get down. She knew that if she was told to get down she BETTER get down and QUICK or else she'd lose her life.

Haru quickly dropped to the ground, hearing a gun getting fired, a sound of metal clashing and then a thump of a heavy body dropping to the ground.

What was going on! Who shot a gun? Was Yamamoto okay? Who just fell to the ground? Was Yamamoto shot? Was he going to be okay?

All of these thoughts were racing through her head and she gathered all of the courage she could muster in her chest to crack open one eye to see that Yamamoto was on the ground.

Now, before anyone namely Haru could panic, she noticed that he was on the ground having tackled Dino to the ground.

Yamamoto had his katana unsheathed and held up against Dino's neck. He used his katana to deflect the bullet and tackled Dino to the ground and held his Katana against Dino's neck.

All of that occurred in a mere 10 seconds. Never underestimate the athletic Rain Guardian.

"Alright you fake, cast away your illusions. I know you are hiding behind illusions. Tell me why you disguised yourself as Dino and got close to Haru. What are your intentions?" Yamamoto questioned the imposter on the ground, clutching onto the man's clothes tightly.

Haru pushed herself off the ground and she edged closer to Yamamoto to see Dino on the ground. It looked like Dino, but it wasn't him?

Dino's lips curled up to a sinister smirk and his face morphed into another's. Haru jumped and she was shocked to see such a magical act performed in front of her.

That guy was no push over when it came to illusions. He managed to copy Dino's voice, his appearance, a bit of his mannerisms, and even his smell.

Okay, that could sound weird to you but if you knew someone for long enough you were sure to recognize their scent. Don't judge her. Haru was normal, and she was not some creep.

"I'm surprised that you managed to see through my illusions. You're no normal teenager. Just who are you?" The man asked with the smirk still plastered onto his face.

"Yamamoto Takeshi, tenth generation rain guardian of the tenth generation boss of Vongola. State your name, your affiliation, and your reason for doing this and I just MAY decide to spare you." Yamamoto threatened.

"V-V-Vongola! You… you are from Vongola?" The man's complexion paled, and his smirk was soon replaced with a frown. Things weren't looking good for him.

Smoke started to shoot out from his sleeves, and Yamamoto hopped away from him just in case the smog was dangerous.

When it dissipated, the man disappeared without a trace.

Yamamoto carefully looked at the spot the man had disappeared from with an unsatisfied look. He let him get away.

He had managed to see through the man's illusions after being subjected to Genkishi's illusions.

Haru was shooken up not really comprehending anything of which had just gone on from right in front of her.

She was here and she still couldn't really grasp the situation that well.

"Come on Haru, I'll walk you home." Yamamoto told her with a friendly smile, holding out his hand for her.

Haru looked up at him uneasily, holding out her hand to grab his and he hoisted her up onto her feet with relative ease.

"Alright, thank you Yamamoto-kun." Haru nodded her head when Yamamoto's cell phone rang.

Yamamoto pulled out his cell phone and answered it.

"What's up? Yeah… uh huh. Really? Something happened over here with us too. Oh, I'm with Haru right now. Right now? Both of us? If you put it that way, we'll both be there. Well alright then, see you soon." Yamamoto hung up on his cell phone and he looked at Haru.

Haru was watching as Yamamoto's face grew serious as he listened to the phone call. She could only assume that it was Tsuna or someone and he had called to tell Yamamoto that something bad had happened.

"Did… something happen Yamamoto-kun?" She asked him nervously a bit worried about what was going on.

Yamamoto put away his phone with a contemplative look on his face as if deciding on the best way to tell her.

"Well, I just got a call from Tsuna and apparently something big is going down. Some of the others were attacked as well and he just wants for a small gathering to make sure that everyone is okay." Yamamoto explained.

Haru nodded her head silently just hoping that everything was going to be just fine. She didn't want to know that something bad had happened to any of them.

The two walked over to Tsuna's house silently without much being spoken between them. Haru was still shooken up by what had just happened and was worried about the others. Yamamoto, of course was worried for the others as well but his mind was preoccupied with the man who had the gall to attack Haru.

Just what was his plan? Why disguise himself as Dino? Also… what was going on in the mafia world? That illusion wasn't half-baked. It was a good illusion. That man must've belonged to a pretty strong Mafia.

Once they made it to Tsuna's house, Kyoko's sobbing could be heard and Haru quickly bolted into the house in hot pursuit of her dear friend.

"Kyoko-chan! Why are you crying?" Haru ran to her friend's side, hugging her tightly.

"Haru-chan! I was so scared! Dino-san came out and was talking to me and he suddenly attacked! If Nii-chan wasn't there I don't know what would've happened!" Kyoko sobbed into Haru's shoulder.

"Haru was attacked too, but it turned out that he was just an imposter. I'm sure that your attacker was an imposter as well-desu. It's okay Kyoko-chan don't cry anymore. You're safe." Haru petted Kyoko's head lightly with her hand soothingly.

"I was so shocked, the man really did look like Dino. I had let my guard down and almost got attacked as well, though I had Lambo and I-pin at my side to protect me." Nana smiled down at her two little saviors.

Lambo and I-pin were both hugging Nana tightly and protectively not wanting for anything else to happen to their surrogate-like mother.

"That imposter approached us as well. Juudaime's hyper intuition noticed that something was wrong and we were able to prevent any harm from being done, but we weren't able to catch the perpetrator." Gokudera grumbled punching the ground hard with his fist.

He was very bothered by having a man who had attempted to attack his beloved boss on the loose.

Tsuna shook his head walking into the room.

"I just got a call from Hibari-san, and apparently he was also attacked and he had saved Kana from the imposter as well." Tsuna said sitting down on a throw pillow.

Kyoko stopped crying and she looked at Haru worriedly.

"How did you manage to escape from the imposter?" She asked.

Haru glanced back at Yamamoto to infer that he was the one who had saved her.

"I was walking home from an errand when I saw the imposter. Once I had a feeling that something was wrong, Yamamoto told me to get down and Haru dropped to the ground hearing a gunshot. It was very scary-desu." Haru answered.

Kyoko hugged her tightly and the two held onto each other in fright over the unknown enemy that seemed to be attacking all of their friends.

Biachi and Fuuta had also joined into the mix as well telling everyone about their story they had to tell. Everyone was exchanging stories together trying to figure out the reasoning behind these random attacks.

The only thing that made sense so far was that all of the attackers disguised themselves as Dino and attacked those that knew him.

Reborn was sitting on a throw pillow listening to what everyone had to say with an evident frown on his face.

This wasn't good at all and it only seemed as though things were going to get worse.

Reborn snuck away while everyone was having a talk and he walked into another room and he took out a mini cell-phone and dialed onto it.

"Yes, it's me. Something had happened over here."

"Really? What happened?" A voice on the other end asked.

"In simple terms, almost everyone seems to have been attacked by an imposter. Even the innocent Haru, Kyoko, and Nana were involved."

A bit of silence between the two speakers.

"T-that's horrible. Is everyone alright?"

"Yes, everyone is alright. If my suspicions are correct, you better get ready to leave on my command. Tell your family about the situation now. I will come to get you soon, and make sure to tell them that none of them are allowed to come with you. There is a reason why I'm going to get you myself personally." Reborn said.

"Alright I understand, see you then Reborn."

Reborn put his cell phone away with a distant look about his face. If they were all to play their cards correctly, things would work out with little to no problems at all, but knowing their own luck things would escalate one problem over and another to result in a full blown out Mafia war.

.:Meanwhile elsewhere:.

"Were you able to take anyone who knew Dino Cavallone as a hostage?" A cold voice spoke, his voice ripping through the darkness of the room.

Tip tip tap, tip tip tap.

The man was tapping his fingers against the table that he was sitting next to. A quirk of his that showed that he was feeling rather impatient.

The room was pitch black with nothing but the glow of the man's light up pocket watch was the only source of light in the dark room, but even that didn't supply enough light to show anyone's features.

The henchman sat on his knees, head lowered dejectedly as he had to tell his boss the bad news, "No boss, the thing is, everyone he knew were pretty strong, and some had people protecting them."

This caught the boss's attention quite nicely. The tapping of his fingers ceased and the man looked down at his henchman, though he wouldn't know it.

The boss had only talked to his underlings from the dark, and would have night-vision glasses adorned over his eyes as a safety measure in case his men just so happened to double cross him. He could see them but they could not see him. If they had angered him enough he'd pull the trigger of his favorite gun he always had in his right hand.

If someone had happened to also be wearing night-vision devices, he wouldn't take any chances and take them out right on the spot.

He could see his henchman on the ground tapping his fingers against his knees nervously.

"Protecting them?" He asked.

The henchman tensed and slowly nodded his head nervously. "Ah… yes…" The Henchman hesitated in answering.

This man wasn't telling him everything and was not being nearly speedy enough to satisfy him. He wanted answers and wanted them now. His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed angrily.

"What's wrong? Tell me. NOW." He demanded impatiently.

"W-well you see sir, the ones that were protecting the people were those from the Vongola's tenth generation."

"Vongola? Shit, we can't afford to have them figure out our plans. We shall lay down for a while before we start up our plan. No further meddling with those in Japan or else we'll have the full force of Vongola against us and we don't want that."

"Yes sir."

The man leaned against his chair and let out a heavy sigh. A light clicking sound of him clicking his teeth together could be heard, which was assumed to be a quirk of his that denoted his aggravated mood. It was rare for one of his henchmen to hear that sound and be able to walk out of his private meeting room alive.

The henchman shivered in his place unsure of how his life would turn out at this rate. Perhaps it was a bad idea for him to tell his boss about his findings?

"Damn that Cavallone and his strong ties with the Vongola. Just what business did he have over there in Japan recently? Don't tell me he's figured out the plan already and wants to strike before we do…" The boss grumbled to himself angrily.

"If that's the case, we're going to have to strike first, and hard." The boss huffed and he pushed a button on his chair which opened a door right behind his henchmen. "You may go."

The man quickly stumbled onto his feet and made his way out the door without trying to sneak a peek at his boss.

The light outside the door was only bright enough to show the man's messy shoulder length auburn hair, his green eyes, and a long scar that went from his temple to his chin. That was all anyone could ever make of their boss they worked under.

* * *

><p>Well there we have it! Hmmm something is a brewing, eh? You curious about it? Wa ha, well you may have to wait to see what's going on. Though I'm sure it's not that hard to guess what's going to happen. I'm not that smart to think of something to complex.<p>

I hope you all will continue reading it regardless. I will try to work on this quickly. No one knows how excited I am for chapter 11, I decided it'll be my favorite. My second favorite was the previous chapter. Ha ha I apparently like chapters when I'm mean to characters. *shrugs*

I just like them somewhat touching moments though. Well, hopefully you all enjoyed it! Please do tell me what you think about it!

-Neospice12


	5. 4: A Chanced Meeting

Hopefully this is progressing well. I am trying hard to try to keep up with the stories and keep the quality up. Things may seem a bit slow and maybe a bit boring but not every chapter can have action right? The action will pick up eventually I due time. I just love my drama, just wait for it. Heh heh~

Disclaimer: Again, this is fanfiction, so this ultimately means that this is all fanbased and I claim to own nothing in this story. Alright, maybe except for the baddies that had an introduction in the last chapter. Other than that? NOTHING.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4- A Chanced Meeting<strong>

"Spit it out, where is he?"

"I've no idea what you are talking about."

"Tsuna, you know where he is. Tell me. I always care for Reborn in the morning. I know you know where he is." Bianchi huffed angrily holding a big cake in one of her hands.

Yes, you guessed it, this cake was purple, bubbling and it had bugs sticking out of it.

What kind of a loon would eat this kind of cake you ask? Well, no one really, except for a complete lunatic.

Now, Bianchi wasn't that nice to just serve up a cake to someone, she could just shove it into the face of the poor sap who just happened to be Tsunayoshi Sawada.

Tsuna was looking to the side a bit nervously. How was he to tell Bianchi that after the whole ordeal yesterday he walked into his room to see a note left by Reborn saying he was going to go back to Italy?

Even Tsuna had no idea why he'd be going to Italy so suddenly. He didn't want to say anything and risk causing a big scene.

Luckily for Tsuna, someone had arrived onto the scene just in the nick of time.

"Yo, Tsuna! What's up?" Dino saluted with a quick wrist movement with Reborn sitting on his broad shoulders.

Tsuna stared at Dino incredulously. Why was he here? He wasn't expecting to come to Japan on such short notice, much less with Reborn.

"Dino-san? What are you doing here? Where are your men?" Tsuna asked looking around to see if he could find any of Dino's men lurking around somewhere in the house.

Dino just laughed at his underclassman under Reborn's teaching, finding him so cute and so confused that he had to break him out of his disillusioned thoughts.

"Tsuna, none of my men are here. I came here alone with Reborn." Dino laughed.

Tsuna stopped looking around and looked at Dino and Reborn suspiciously. Alone? Dino never came alone. Heck his whole entire famiglia would always visit in the morning using the 'I was on a stroll excuse' if they just so happened to be worried about their boss's safety.

How could Dino manage to come to Italy all by himself without a single one of his men following behind him?

Something wasn't right here and he felt it deep within his being. In other words, his hyper intuition was nagging at his wits telling him that something big was going to happen.

Tsuna looked upon Reborn with an inquisitive look.

"There is just a big fight that might occur within his famiglia and I told him to take a break here and let his famiglia deal with it is all. Don't worry about it too much, Dame-tsuna." Reborn told him hopping off Dino's shoulder and he walked into kitchen to be babied by Bianchi once again.

Tsuna didn't really have a chance to question Reborn further on the matter and he dismissed it taking Reborn's words and believing in them.

Over the years he realized that Reborn would always tell him the truth and tell him in such a cryptic way Tsuna would always end up horribly understanding the situation.

"Maman, would it be okay for Dino to stay here for a while as he waits for things to cool down in Italy? It may take up to 2 weeks, but no longer than that I'm sure." Reborn asked Nana.

Nana was cooking breakfast in the kitchen and was batching up a bit more food for Dino as well.

"That's okay with me, he's already a member of the family at this point. Dino can stay for as long as he wants. He's looked after Tsuna and he's done so much for this family, letting him stay here is nothing." Nana said with a bright smile.

Dino flashed a smile Nana's way, her unbeatable kindness was something that never changed about her over the years. She was just so selfless, polite, charitable, and an overall gentle woman that no one could debate against her being the classic Japanese 'Yamato Nadeshiko.'

Lambo and I-pin were helping Nana by setting up the table while having a little spat. No matter how many years go by those two would always remain as close as ever and fight like an old married couple, a crazily hyperactive, violent couple that is.

Dino was directed to sitting in a chair and he sat in his seat silently with a distant look on his face.

"I'm not sure about what's getting you so down Dino, but here have some coffee. It may calm you down. I made an espresso for you as well Reborn-chan." Nana said setting down two cups of caffeinated beverages onto the table.

"Thank you very much Nana-san." Dino thanked her picking up the warm coffee cup holding it between his two hands to feel them warm up.

The smell of the coffee helped calm his nerves down some but the somewhat pained expression on his face never left his face.

Nana was not the only one to notice this about Dino of course, Tsuna had hinted on this as well wondering just what he could be sad about. Was the situation at Italy that dire?

Tsuna walked into the kitchen and he sat down in the seat across from Dino looking at him carefully.

"Dino-san? Are you alright?" Tsuna asked, not wanting to pry too much into his personal life.

Dino snapped out of his thoughts and he just laughed. "What? Oh! I'm just fine. I am just a bit jet lagged you know? Ha ha, I'm just thinking is all. You've all grown up so much over the years. It's just so amazing. You've all were just little children and now you've grown up to be pretty dependable. Even the girls have grown up a lot." Dino said taking a sip of his coffee.

Tsuna felt a bit relieved whenever Dino smiled and shared a bit of his thoughts with him. It was true that they've grown up a lot. The amount of change some of them went through even surprised himself.

"Ha ha, we have grown up a lot. Haru and Kyoko have grown a lot as well. They're both very beautiful. Kyoko is as dazzling as ever of course~" Tsuna said with a distant, day dreamy look on his face right now.

This boy had no shame in daydreaming about random things.

Dino laughed some more drinking out of his coffee cup while talking to Tsuna about the things he has missed.

Nana set down the plates full of food on the table in front of everyone and she stood to watch over them all to ensure that they were all going to eat breakfast.

"Oh, do you want some more coffee, Dino?" She asked him noticing that his cup was empty.

Dino jolted staring into the cup that was a mere two inches away from his face to finally notice that the cup was empty. How long was he thinking that he drinking coffee from an empty cup?

"Ah, yes thank you. It looks like I just finished." Dino chuckled holding out the cup for Nana so she could refill it.

"Dino, do me a favor will you?" Reborn questioned him as he was being fed by Bianchi.

Dino looked over at Reborn questioningly but he didn't question Reborn's actions or intentions. He merely nodded his head agreeing to help Reborn with whatever he would ask for him to help out with.

Reborn pulled out a slip of paper and he jotted something down onto the slip of paper and flicked it over to him.

Dino opened up the note and he read it before slipping it into his pocket.

"I'll do it." He said.

Reborn nodded his head and resumed his eating, letting Bianchi feed him still.

Dino ate his food as well occasionally spilling and flinging some food everywhere. He definitely was the same old klutzy Dino that they all knew and loved.

Everyone ate their breakfast with a few fights here and there. The fights mainly consisted of Lambo stealing food from I-pin, failing, he'd retort to stealing from Tsuna, fail and then Tsuna would lose his food to Reborn.

I-pin would get angry at Lambo and Tsuna would complain to Reborn who was protected under Bianchi's influence.

After eating breakfast, Dino headed out to complete Reborn's errand that he was given.

He walked into the strip market thinking that there were a lot of buildings there so one of the buildings were bound to be the one he was looking for.

Dino would ask around and he kept getting directed in various directions until he found his way in a place that didn't seem all that familiar to him.

He listened to all of the directions given to him and he still didn't see the building that he was looking for.

Oh has the lords of karma out to get him?

Dino looked around looking around the surrounding areas not too sure about where he was at the moment. Just where was he?

Dino kept looking around quickly to find a hint, a sign, anything that could help him out.

He saw something move quickly in the corner of his eye and he quickly wiped himself to look in that direction, his hand ready to pull out his whip and attempt to defend himself if it were an enemy.

Instead he was face to face with our favorite brunette.

"Hahi? Dino-san? Is that you?" Haru asked him nervously scooting to the side, both of her hands in front of her posed somewhat defensively.

Dino couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion at this stance of hers. Was he that scary?

Dino nodded his head slowly before answering her question, "Yes, I'm the one and only Dino Cavallone… and you are Haru Miura… the little girl I've known for all these years." Dino said.

Haru let her arms fall to her sides and she sides. Yep, that was Dino alright. He could try to lay on the flirtacious attitude thick on some other woman but when he was talking to her, he'd treat her like a kid, like always…

Haru couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. If only the Dino from yesterday wasn't a fake. Haru quickly shook her head to rid her mind of such thoughts.

"Well what are you doing here Dino-san? I didn't expect for you to be back in Japan so soon." Haru said.

Dino just smiled at her and he chuckled lightly.

"I'm going to be staying in Japan for a while. I just have a few things to attend to here in Japan is all. I suppose I could use this as a chance to get to hang out with everyone and get to know you a bit more. You've grown so much over the years, it's astonishing. I can't help but ponder what else about you has changed." Dino said.

Haru nodded her head looking at the slip of paper that was in Dino's hand wondering what it was.

Dino followed her line of vision to see that she took notice of the slip of paper that he had. He looked down at the note and back at Haru.

"Haru? Have you heard of this place written on this slip of paper?" Dino asked her showing her the note.

Haru carefully studied the note, and she looked around her not saying anything for about a minute. She hummed as she looked around thinking.

"Yes, I've heard of it." She said.

Dino's outlook on life just brightened up significantly. She could show him the way there!

"Will you please direct me there then?" Dino asked her.

Haru stared up at him and she apologetically shook her head in denial.

Dino hung his head with a dejected sigh, it was back to the drawing board for him.

"That place has been closed for a while now. They already tore down the building. I couldn't direct you to a building that no longer exists." Haru said.

…

What? It didn't exist anymore? Then why direct him there? Perhaps there was a clue for him to find if he went to the place where the building used to stand?

"Could you please show me to where it was?" Dino asked her.

Haru shrugged and she nodded her head walking toward the direction of where the torn down building used to stand.

Haru walked through various streets until she stopped in front of an empty lot that used to have a building standing above it.

She looked up at him and back down at the empty lot. "Well this is it, Dino-san." She told him.

Dino walked onto the empty lot curiously wondering just what was the point of him coming here?

Haru looked at the empty lot wondering if there was something important about the lot.

She looked at the buildings around the empty lot and saw nothing. She looked on the ground and saw nothing. It wasn't worth much but she decided to look up at well.

That's when she saw something peculiar hanging between the two buildings that stood on either side of the empty lot.

"Hahi?"

Dino, alerted by Haru's confusion looked back at her to see she was looking upwards so he directed his line of vision upwards as well.

"What is this? 'Cheer up. Stop Thinking.'? Reborn had me walking around the city lost for hours just for me to see this?" Dino huffed angrily, but in a few seconds he was laughing.

Haru understood that people had times when their moods could change drastically, but this drastically? She's only seen females change that quickly and that's only when they were PMS'ing, or when someone was insane.

"Dino-san…? Are you… okay? Are you feeling alright?" Haru asked him stepping away from him not wanting to be caught in the middle of his insane tantrums if he were to go on one.

"Ha ha, I'm fine Haru. This is just like Reborn , to send me on a wild goose chase for no reason. Well it got me to stop thinking unneeded thoughts." Dino smiled up at the banner and he shook his head.

Haru just mentally shrugged and she looked down at her watch. "Well would you like for me to help you get back to Tsuna's home? I'm sure you don't know your way back. You're pretty far away from it after all." She offered.

Dino smiled and he accepted her offer.

Haru smiled walking towards Tsuna's house this time stopping suddenly when a warm hand wrapped around her small hand.

Haru looked down staring at the familiar hand, but yet unfamiliar hand.

This was a hand she has seen many times over the years, one she was very familiar with, but was unfamiliar with the feel of the hand.

Was the hand always this big? She hadn't expected for the hand to be this warm either. It also had a feel of dependability as well?

"Can't have me getting lost again right? Safest when holding hands." Dino said with a smile.

Haru returned the smile and she giggled walking towards Tsuna's home still.

She walked him up to the house and she was soon ushered in by Nana for some tea.

Reborn was sitting in the living room sipping on some tea innocently as if he hadn't done anything to bother anyone that day. What a lie.

Dino and Haru were asked to sit in the living room as Nana set down two cups of tea for them at the living room table.

"So you completed my errand?" Reborn asked Dino eying Haru with a knowing look.

"Yes, I eventually found the empty lot when Haru-chan helped me. Didn't think you would try to trick me like that Reborn." Dino sighed shaking his head.

Reborn shrugged sipping his tea silently.

"Hm… I see…" Reborn snickered to himself as he sipped his tea some more. "So something you'd like to tell me? I saw you both holding hands." He said.

"Ha-hahi! T-that was to prevent Dino-san from getting lost-desu!" Haru stuttered burning herself with her tea.

Haru was waving her hand in front of her face to cool down her burned skin.

"Heh heh is THAT what he told you? Suave Dino, you did learn many things from me after all." Reborn said tipping his hat up with a smirk.

Dino returned Reborn's smirk with his own amused smile.

"Ha-Haru must be going back home now. T-thank you for the tea Nana-san. Haru has to go home quickly now." Haru stuttered before she ran out of the house to escape.

"Bet you noticed someone looking at Haru and as a 'safety precaution' you decided to take hold of her hand didn't you? Or did you just feel like holding her hand and feel her soft skin? Which is it?" Reborn asked.

Dino took a sip from his cup and he set down the cup down onto the table with a wide grin. "Both." Dino answered with a light chuckle.

"Proud to call you my student." Reborn said finishing up his tea smiling with a quiet chuckle.

"Thanks, Reborn. Learned from the best." Dino laughed along with Reborn.

As the two men, okay, one man and one baby laughed, Haru was running home completely flustered.

The poor girl was going to take some time to recover from that, but her pillow at home was even sadder going to have to put up with her attack filled with her pent up nerves.

* * *

><p>Hopefully some of you readers like this. I'm getting a bit worried about my stories now thinking they're horrible.<p>

I hope that it's just me being paranoid.

ANYWAYS, hopefully you like it and can become more interested in seeing future chapters.

Like the fact that I'm writing this as a trade? Want to do a trade with me as well? Come to my forum found on my profile. Want for me to write something for you since you can't put your idea into words? You can also talk to me about that at my forums.

Interested? Go for it. Help me spread the Haru x anyone love into the fanbase!

Until next time!

Neospice12


	6. 5: Wandering Pathways

Well now, I'm on chapter 5 already. That's amazing! I only need like… 9 chapters to go and I'm done! WHOOTS! Oh gosh I hope I can manage to do well on this. I aspire to get this finished up by the end of this year. We'll see if I can do that though. Wish me luck!

I really hope you're all enjoying this story! 8D

Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Akira Amano and no one else.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5- Wandering Pathways<strong>

Haru was walking alone in the streets and the sky was getting darker by the minute. She valued her studies as much as the next student but she didn't appreciate having to go to cram school and come back home late at night when there was the possibility of her getting attacked.

Haru decided to make a small short cut home that she took every so often not knowing just how much trouble she'd soon be finding herself in.

She was walking into a small alley that was quick to walk through when she heard a big clang.

Stopping in her tracks, she quickly scanned the area to see if she could find any sign of what created such a sound and in front of her she saw two people glaring at each other with metal pipes in their hands.

Did she just find herself in the middle of a gang war! They were Yankees!

Haru slowly took a few steps back and she stepped on an empty bottle and it shattered from underneath her.

"Hey did you hear that? Go check it out."

"Yeah, okay."

Haru started to panic looking down at the shattered shards and she looked up to see someone walking towards her.

Big, heavy steps, with a metal pipe being dragged around the hard ground.

Haru dropped to the ground holding her hands to cover her ears and she did something she thought that any normal person would do.

"N-NYA~!"

"Oh, it's just a cat."

Wow, really? Yankee's weren't stereotyped to be those who never went to school and were stupid for nothing. A cat? Really?

If it were her, she'd still check to make sure. Just about anyone could make a cat sound to get out of trouble. She was just lucky that they were pretty stupid or she'd be in some big trouble right about now.

"Wait a minute, a cat? That sounds stupid. You, go look. It's probably a spy or something."

"Kay…"

Haru tensed up not knowing how to escape out of this one.

A girl with bandages wrapped around her chest, holding a wooden kendo sword behind her head with various piercings on her body, bright blonde hair stood before Haru.

"Heh~ It's some chick, boss, what shall we do with her?" She asked.

"Get rid of her, she's seen too much."

The girl shrugged holding the kendo sword up in the air and she slammed it down to the ground, and Haru barely managed to jump out of the way in time shrieking loudly at the top of her lungs.

She wasn't really assuming that many people were nearby, and it wasn't like anyone would go out of their way just to save her but it was worth a shot.

"Stop ya' squirmin' It's only going to like… hurt a lot ya kno'? Just sit still an' take ya beatings like a girl."

The yankee female grumbled holding the sword up and slam it back down to cause some bodily harm to the poor Miura Haru.

"W-what kind of a person would sit still to get hurt-desu! That's not normal!" Haru shouted.

The girl stopped for a moment letting the sword drop to her side and she hit her side with the wooden sword. She seemed to be thinking about this? How much thought is needed to know that normally people would run away from pain?

"Yeah, I guess people would try ta run away, huh? I always fight, so ya kno' I dun usually think about that. Huh, that's something to think 'bout aint it?" The girl snorted a laugh.

Haru just stared at the girl like she grew an extra head.

"Hey, what's that look for? I ain't stupid! Ya got that? How was I to know that you couldn't work with a friend to take tests?" The girl huffed.

Oh wow, she was an idiot.

She rose the sword again and started to slam the sword down. Haru closed her eyes just waiting for it all to be over.

BAM!

A loud female shriek was heard through the alleyways.

Falling limp against the ground, a girl fainted and the other Yankees had to check out the scene wondering just what happened.

Haru opened up an eye to see the girl in front of her fainted from shock.

Haru slowly stood up and she staggered unsteadily with her footsteps.

She suddenly felt a hand wrap around her mouth and she was pulled in towards someone.

Haru was too shocked to even let out a muffled cry, completely shocked by what had just happened. Her heart was pounding harshly in her chest, her mind was shooting off many thoughts and questions and her body was shivering in fear.

"Don't say a thing, and don't move." A voice whispered into her ear.

"Just hurry up and drag her already, we don't have all day."

A drawn out sigh.

"Yeah, I'm getting there."

Haru whimpered silently nodding her head, feeling an arm wrap around her waist and slowly walk her out of the alleyway, and by this point Haru was scared witless with tears forming at the sides of her eyes.

"Woah! Dayum~! Who the hell like demolished this dumpster? WOAH! A monster! Hey! Haine's unconscious too! This bastard is a dangerous prick!"

"W-we better get outta here before we have to face him too."

They were all inspecting the dumpster that looked like someone had taken an object and slammed it against the dumpster with such an intensity that it caved in and some of the garbage inside of it was spilling out.

"Yeah, go and take Haine with ya."

Haru could only shiver more wondering just what was going to happen to her with this monster. Oh if only she did not decide to walk through that stupid alley way, she wouldn't be stuck in this mess.

Once out of the alleyway, the person let her go and sighed. "Ha ha, that was pretty scary. I was worried that you got yourself into trouble. You shouldn't go walking into alleyways you know."

Haru mustered up all of the courage she could gather in her little chest and she turned around and she saw a friendly smile and a bothered one that belonged to none other than Yamamoto Takeshi and Gokudera Hayato.

"W-what are you doing here, Yamamoto? I thought you went home already. Also, what are you doing here, Gokudera?" Haru asked wiping away the tears out of her eyes.

The two boys looked at each other and then back at Haru. She was crying and both didn't really know what to do.

Gokudera just rubbed the back of his head and he lightly patted her back. "Ah... there there... stop... crying already." Gokudera said.

Yamamoto nodded his head and gave Haru a warm smile that she couldn't help but smile back at.

"Well the, will you answer my question?" She asked them, staring at them expectantly.

"Ah… let's see, for me I decided to stay behind for a bit since I wanted to ask the teacher some extra questions in my cram class. Besides that, are you okay?" Yamamoto asked her.

Haru nodded her head and she eyed Gokudera with much confusion in her eyes. He was always really smart and he wouldn't need a cram teacher, rather, the teacher could be taught by him. Besides he was always too 'busy' protecting his precious Juudaime to go to cram school.

"Juudaime had heard of some yankees getting pretty rowdy around this area. He knows that you both have cram school around here so he asked me to come and make sure that you both would be okay. Of course you would get yourself into trouble, always such a stupid girl." Gokudera huffed.

Haru huffed and she glared at him not appreciating the fact that he was insulting her when she had just gone through such a terrifying ordeal. Not like she wanted that after all.

"That was an uncalled for insult, Gokudera. To answer your question, I'm fine now… thank you Gokudera, Yamamoto." Haru thanked them both with a slight bow of the head.

"Come on, we'll walk you home, Haru." Yamamoto told her.

Haru nodded her head and she made sure that she had everything in her bag before she set off with the both of them. She sniffled a little bit and she could hear Gokudera's annoyed huff.

"Stop crying already!" Gokudera huffed angrily with her.

Haru sent him an aggravated look of her own. She didn't appreciate him patronizing her. He was being a bit more hostile towards her than he normally was. Just when she thought his attitude was turning mild over the years, he goes and does something like this towards her.

Gokudera grumbled some more to himself and he rummaged his hand through his pants pockets and he pulled out a handkerchief. "Here." He muttered.

Haru looked at it and then back up at Gokudera suspiciously at first, though over the long years they've known each other, she knew that she could trust him.

Even though the both of them would hate to admit it, they had a pretty strong sense of friendship between the two of them. It was probably because of the constant bickering they did as they were younger that helped them understand each other very well.

Next to Bianchi, Haru seemed to understand Gokudera's feelings well, and next to Kyoko, Gokudera seemed to understand Haru rather well.

Though of course in terms of being friendly and knowing just about anything of the other, Yamamoto had both of them beat.

"Thank you, Gokudera." Haru took the handkerchief from his hand and she started to wipe away some stray tears and Yamamoto was just smiling at this.

"Heh, aren't you the softie now, Gokudera? You are really starting to get mature, if I didn't know any better, you'd be like 'G' if he were still alive." Yamamoto teased him.

Gokudera tensed and he grunted sending Yamamoto a threatening glare but he refrained from saying anything with any ill-intentions.

"Che, Isn't that obvious? G was an ideal right hand man, I can't hold back Juudaime for too long. I'm always working on improving myself." Gokudera said turning his head up towards the sky and he had his eyes closed as he crossed his arms across his chest with a very haughty way of not wanting to express with embarrassment from the sudden praise.

Yamamoto and Haru both looked at each other and smiled, chuckling to themselves over Gokudera's funny antics.

Haru extended out her arms and she enveloped them both in a warm hug. She wrapped her arms around the back of their necks and she had to go on her tippy toes since she was pretty short compared to the two of them.

The two males stopped in their footsteps to look down at the little girl who was hugging them.

"W-what are you doing now, you idiot?" Gokudera stuttered a bit in his question, being taken off guard by her sudden show of affection.

Haru smiled pulling them closer to her and she exhaled a big sigh, a content filled sigh.

"Have I ever told you guys that I love you?" She asked.

Gokudera shook his head and he sighed, and Yamamoto just laughed shaking his head as well.

"You say this like… what at least 3 times a week?" Gokudera grumbled, taking a hand to ruffle his bangs in annoyance. They were really going to stop for something like this?

Haru puffed out her cheeks and she furrowed her eyebrows a bit. It was true though. She loved them all so very much.

They've all been through so much over the years, and she saw them all like family now. She loved them all very much like they were really a part of her real family.

Haru pouted and she looked at the two of them expectantly.

Gokudera violently shook his head trying to push her away from him, but Haru had a firm hold on him and Yamamoto held onto the back of his shirt.

"Aw, come on Gokudera, a group hug won't kill you." Yamamoto laughed.

Gokudera snarled a bit trying to wrench himself free from them both.

"Shut up! I don't agree to this! Let me go! I don't DO hugs!" He shouted.

Haru let go of Yamamoto and she wrapped both of her arms around Gokudera's waist and she looked up at him sternly.

"Hug."

Gokudera glared at her and he shook his head resolutely. "NO."

The two of them glared at each other until Haru broke it off to look off to the side to mutter something under her breath.

"I thought Mafioso's were supposed to be kind to women, and Tsuna said that he wanted a friend that wasn't afraid to show that he cared for his friends." Haru said, a small smirk appearing on her pretty features.

Gokudera's eye twitched.

This… this damned girl! She knew just how to push his buttons and try to manipulate him to do things.

Gokudera rolled his eyes and he hugged her back satisfying Haru so she let him go and she looked at Yamamoto with a wide smile.

Of course Yamamoto was never really the type to hesitate from a hug, and of course he would hug Haru in a heartbeat if she were the one asking for one.

Haru extended her arms out looking at him and he smiled at her and he hugged her. She giggled, hugging him tightly.

Gokudera sighed and he shook his head looking at the both of them with a rather solemn look on his face. Yamamoto looked at Gokudera and noticed this look on his face and it only took him a second to realize why he was looking at them like that.

Yamamoto pulled away from the hug and Haru happily started to walk towards her house, having felt that her job was done.

She looked back at Gokudera and Yamamoto to note that the two were exchanging some looks with each other as if they were able to communicate with one another with just a look, which they probably could by this point.

She didn't say anything to this and she quietly walked home without anything else to say. The silence was rather unbearable but no one felt like breaking the silence by saying anything. The air was a bit too tense for something to be said.

If the wrong thing was said, it could just make the air even tenser and make the atmosphere feel like it was harder to breathe in.

"Well, we're here. Thanks for walking me back you two." Haru said walking into her room.

"You really okay with not telling her anything? Is there even a point to just watching over her while trampling your own feelings?" Gokudera asked him knowing full well how Yamamoto felt about their hyperactive female friend of theirs.

Yamamoto shook his head and he looked at the door that Haru had just walked through.

"I don't want to make her feel sad since I'm sure she doesn't feel that way towards me. She likes someone else. I'd rather her be happy." Yamamoto said.

Gokudera huffed and kicked a rock that was right next to his foot angrily.

"Well, I think it's stupid! You shouldn't just disregard your own feelings like that. It worries people, your friends." Gokudera said.

Yamamoto looked at Gokudera with a confused look. He craned his neck to see a concerned look on Gokudera's face which he hid once he noticed that Yamamoto was looking at his face.

Yamamoto smiled at him appreciating his concern, but then his smile quickly vanished.

"So, Gokudera, what did you really come over for? Tsuna's, hyper intuition doesn't set off over something so little. I always make sure that Haru gets home safely, so even if you hadn't come I would've been enough to keep her safe." Yamamoto theorized against Gokudera's previous excuse. There was another reason as to why Gokudera decided to come and visit them.

It had to be pretty important if Tsuna felt worried and asked Gokudera to come and fetch Yamamoto while playing it off as a normal worried notion for their friends.

Gokudera huffed and shook his head.

"Guess I can't hide things form you. Though, It's really as I said, Juudaime wanted to make sure you were okay. He was worried, and something sparked off his hyper intuition. He wants for the guardians to gather today for a very short meeting." Gokudera said.

"I wonder what sparked his hyper intuition. Do you think it has something to do with Dino staying in Japan for a while?" Yamamoto asked.

Gokudera shoved his hands into his pockets and he shrugged. He hadn't the slightest idea, but what Yamamoto said was probably correct.

"Come on, let's go then. Juudaime doesn't want the girls to know anything because he doesn't want to worry them. Don't tell the girls anything." Gokudera said.

"I won't, don't worry about that." Yamamoto said.

Haru, though was listening to their conversation from her window. She had a feeling something was up. She was happy for deciding to listen into their conversation but she wasn't going to tell them that she was listening in.

She didn't like the nervous feeling she felt in the center of her chest, but she could only hope for the best and wait for everything to blow over. That's the only thing that the girls could do it looked like over the years of knowing them.

Yamamoto and Gokudera made it to Tsuna's house to see the other guardians in Tsuna's room. Even Hibari was there, but he was in the corner of the room, glaring at Mukuro, while getting irritated with the wait for the last two to arrive.

"Oh, it's good that you both made it here. I just wanted to assemble this short meeting to tell you all to be careful while Reborn and Dino are both out do go on an 'errand'. Something sparked my hyper intuition and I know that something is going to happen soon. It won't be anything good either." Tsuna said.

The guardians all nodded their heads in understanding. Well, that is except for Lambo. He was always running around the room annoying the others and just not clearly understanding the situation.

"Tell me, herbivore; does it have something to do with the Bucking horse coming to Japan for a short, temporary stay?" Hibari asked, very quick to get right to the point.

Tsuna nodded his head slowly clasping his hands together, weaving his fingers tightly and he thought critically about the current situation.

"I haven't been told anything but I know that something is going on. Earlier this morning Dino had a nightmare and it seemed like his famiglia were being attacked. He was muttering out names of his famiglia members in his sleep. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm going to guess that Dino's famiglia may be under attack by another famiglia in the near future." Tsuna said telling them about his best guess.

Everyone in the room, minus Lambo started to get really worried. If something was to happen to Dino's famiglia who had close ties with the Vongola famiglia, where they going to have to jump into this fight as well ? How badly was this going to affect their families? Their friends?

The girls weren't going to have to be involved in this again like the struggle in the future against Byakuran were they?

Ryohei vowed to never let his sister be involved in such a dangerous mess ever again, and if something were to happen to Dino's famiglia things could get messy. His famiglia had a lot of influence and they weren't weak.

The enemy had to be pretty strong if they were pushing back the Cavallone famiglia. An attack on Vongola soon after the fall of the Cavallone famiglia was not an unfounded theory.

Tsuna sighed and he looked around at all of them in the room with a serious look on his face.

"This, may be very presumptuous for me to ask, but if something is to happen, I would like to help Dino-san's famiglia as much as I can. Would I have your support on this?" Tsuna asked them.

Everyone looked at each other and nodded their heads. Dino was very much like an older brother figure to all of them as he was to Tsuna. Mukuro was the only one who had not given any sign of an answer. Tsuna ignored this for now and the meeting continued on.

Well for Hibari, that was a bit different, but he wouldn't let anyone else beat the bucking horse Dino. That was strictly reserved for him.

"Of course Juudaime! I'm behind you 100%, no 1000% on whatever you decide!" Gokudera said.

Tsuna smiled and he looked around at everyone else in the room.

"I would like to split us all into a group of two. A group to go and help the Cavallone famiglia if the time ever calls for it, and a separate team to ensure that a surprise attack does not occur here in Namimori while the first team goes off to join the fight." Tsuna said not wanting to take any chances.

Hibari stood up and he walked over to the window and he opened it looking down at his motorbike that was parked right outside.

"I'm sure you know which team you ought to put me into. I'm sick of this crowding so I'm taking my leave now." Hibari said cooly and he jumped out of the window and he rode off with his motorbike.

"As your right hand man, I will go and help fight with the Cavallone famiglia. Also, as a resident of Italy, I know my way around." Gokudera said.

Tsuna nodded his head looking at the rest of the guardians to see what they wanted to do.

Lambo pulled out a grenade from his afro and he waved it in the air.

"Lambo-sama is from Italy too! I'm going to go!"

Tsuna shook his head and he grabbed him and set him into his lap, patting his head gently. "I'm sorry but I'm not going to let you go Lambo. It's too dangerous. Instead you can stay here and help me protect this house. You want to help me protect 'Mama' right?" Tsuna asked him knowing just how to manipulate Lambo now.

Lambo pouted and he nodded his head.

"I'll do my best to protect Mama!" He said jumping out of Tsuna's lap and he ran into the kitchen to cling onto Nana like a spoiled child that he was.

Ryohei had his arms crossed and he thought about it long and hard.

"I'm… staying here. I'll stay and protect Kyoko no matter what. If something happens I can just suggest that Kyoko can have a sleep over with Haru and I will be able to protect them both then." Ryohei said.

Tsuna sighed out of relief happy that one of his biggest problems was solved.

He looked at Yamamoto and Mukuro who were the last two that needed to answer with their resolves.

"Oya oya, you expect me to join in on this fight? There is no need for me to, so I see no need for me to risk myself for the mafia, which I feel the need to remind you all that I despise." Mukuro reminded them all.

Tsuna looked at him with a pleading look and he bowed his head towards Mukuro.

"Please, I ask of you to lend your strength to us for this. I beg of you." Tsuna asked.

Mukuro still was not completely convinced, though it was a nice feeling to have Tsuna bow down to him he wouldn't lie. "If you can convince that MAN to stop watching my every move I may be inclined to help." Mukuro tried to bargain.

Gokudera just about almost tried to jump on Mukuro just then.

"Why you-! How dare you try to bargain with Juudaime! He's the boss and you'll do whatever he tells you!" Gokudera shouted.

Tsuna lifted up his hand to tell Gokudera to calm down.

"I'll find a way to convice Hibari-san to drop the amount of people he has watching over you then." Tsuna agreed to his terms.

Mukuro smirked and he nodded his head, appeased by this situation right now. It looked like things were going to turn to be into his favor.

"So then, so far Tsuna, Lambo, and Ryohei-senpai are staying in Japan. Hibari, Gokudera, and Mukuro are going to Italy. I guess I'm the only one that's left." He said. "I'm sure the Cavallone famiglia will need all the support they can get so I will go as well. Though if your hyper intuition goes off again, I'll stay behind as well." Yamamoto said.

Tsuna nodded his head making a mental note of everyone's stations and the meeting was over and he dismissed them all before Dino and Reborn had a chance to even come back and find out about their little meeting.

If things were going to turn for the worst he was sure that they'd tell him the situation and then he could see if their meeting he called into session was useful or not.

Only time could tell.

* * *

><p>HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT! I wonder if I caught any of you off guard with anything in this story?<p>

If so, my job is complete. XP If not, well I'll have to try harder now won't I? 8P

**HEY! Anyone interested in a contest? Well if you are, I'm holding a fanfiction writing contest! Which of course pertains to Haru x anyone~ If anyone is interested, please do check out my forum which a link can be found on my profile. I suggest that people do give it a try. It may even be fun for you all and perhaps it can give you ideas for something. I want to spread the Haru love~ Let's do this! **

Until next time!

-Neospice12


	7. 6: The Sensible Challenge

Sorry it's been a while. I get really lazy when I'm tired and stressed. Hopefully this chapter will satisfy you all. If not, I shall work harder to do better the next time around. That's what I'm aspiring for at least…

Disclaimer: NOTHING BELONGS TO ME! It all belongs to Akira Amano! Though the writing itself belongs to me.

* * *

><p><strong>The Sensible challenge<strong>

It was a beautiful day, and Haru Miura was walking down the streets with a slip of paper in her hand.

She walked into a building and took in the scent of different mixed smells.

Yes, the glorius place called the 'market' where you could buy bountiful amounts of food and ingredient to use to make scrumptious food to ingest and serve to others with a smile.

It may be difficult to do all of the shopping and bring everything back alone, but Haru wasn't too worried about it.

Haru went down every aisle looking for everything on the list that her mother wrote for her.

With everything she found, she put it in the little basket, which got heavier with each and every added item.

In the beginning the weight wasn't much but in due time the weight seemed to compound itself with the things she added to her basket.

"Ara? Isn't it… Haru-chan?" Nana's voice rang out.

Haru turned to look at Tsuna's mother and she smiled happily. "Hello Nana-san." Haru bowed her head looking to see that she had a shopping list in her hand.

"Kaa-chan, I found the onions… what is next on the list?" Tsuna sighed holding a big basket full of groceries.

Nana just laughed at her son. "Now don't sound like such a wuss Tsuna, you'll embarrass yourself in front of your friend." Nana said.

Tsuna had finally noticed Haru's presence and waved at her. Tsuna and Haru had been getting along rather well over the course of a few years. Haru had gotten over her small little crush over him, and she has been easier for him to get along with.

She even helped with trying to get Tsuna to get together with Kyoko as well and it was quite successful. Tsuna smiled at Haru waving with his free hand. "So how are you?" He asked her.

"Haru is just fine. She's doing some shopping for her mother. I just finished shopping so I should probably head on back home now." Haru said holding up her heavy basket full of groceries.

Nana looked at the basket and deemed that it looked pretty heavy. "Do you need help?" Nana asked her.

Haru shook her head. It was heavy but nothing that she couldn't handle herself.

"I'll be just fine-desu, thank you for asking." Haru said. "Well, I should be taking my leave now. See you another time." Haru said waving before she left to scan and pay for all of the groceries.

She hadn't known it at the time, but someone else had joined in on the shopping party. Dino was curious about the grocery marts here and wanted to help out as he was staying at the Tsunayoshi residence. He was helping Tsuna look for groceries.

Dino was currently away looking at pet cleaning products for his little turtle since it was usually Romario that cleaned him, but since he wasn't there Dino was going to have to do that himself.

Once he had found what he was looking for, he walked over back to Tsuna and put the groceries in the basket.

"Ah, Dino, you just missed her, Haru-chan is here as well. Did you get to say hi to her?" Nana questioned him.

Dino looked around wondering where she was. He hadn't seen her yet. He did see a familiar figure about to leave the shop.

"Would you mind if I went quickly to talk to her?" Dino questioned.

Nana just chuckled shaking her head, shaking her hand in a 'shoo shoo' motion. "Go and enjoy yourself." She smiled dragging Tsuna along to help her do more of the shopping.

He was such a good son helping out his mother with all of the groceries and holding all of the heavy groceries for her.

"Hey! Haru-chan! Wait a moment will you?" Dino called out.

Haru froze and looked around having thought she heard Dino's voice.

She finally turned around to see Dino smiling down at her. Haru giggled and waved her hand at him.

She set down her groceries for a moment thinking that their talk may take a while and holding the groceries were a bother.

"Hello Dino-san, were you also shopping today?" She asked.

Dino rummaged through his sleeves and pulled out a green turtle. Haru was shocked to see that he stored such a thing in his jacket.

She got a closer look at the turtle and she giggled. It was cute!

He had little stars on his shell, how interesting.

"His name is Enzio. He's my pet. I had to go get some cleaning products for him." He explained.

Haru smiled never letting her eyes leave Enzio.

"Woah, Is that Enzio? I haven't seen him in two years now. Wow he's still going strong I see." Yamamoto laughed walking up to the two of them.

The two smiled at him greeting him.

It seemed as though Yamamoto was practicing from the baseball bat in his hand. Yamamoto looked down at the ground to see Haru had some groceries. "Do you need someone to hold your groceries for you, Haru? I'm about to go home now, so I don't mind helping you." Yamamoto offered.

"Actually, I'm very sure that I would be sufficient enough to help her. You don't have to worry yourself, Yamamoto-kun." Dino said with a superficial smile towards Yamamoto that he only used when he was trying to disguise his true intentions.

Yamamoto was taken aback by this, his serious switch being flipped, going on the defensive.

Haru looked around for a ball coming their way.

"Did someone just throw a ball nearby? Yamamoto only gets that look when he's playing baseball. Why are you so serious? Did something happen? Is Haru being left out? Tell Haru what's going on. She doesn't like being left out." Haru puffed out her cheeks cutely.

Dino and Yamamoto seemed to be sending out warning glances towards one another. Were they competing about something, Haru wondered?

She looked at the two curiously. "Is this…" Haru trailed off.

She took another good look at the two of them. "I got it! This is a staring competition! Haru is quite good at staring-desu. Let Haru join?" She asked excitedly.

"This is just a friendly competition between men Haru, please stay out of it." Dino asked of her.

Haru frowned puffing out her cheeks again.

Sexist.

Where in the rules of staring contests was there a rule against gender?

This was gender discrimination!

She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for this petty little competition to finish.

"Dino-san…" Haru tried to gain his attention.

"What is it, Haru-chan?" Dino questioned her not looking away from Yamamoto.

"Nana-san is calling for you." Haru said.

Dino blinked having forgotten the reason why he came outside in the first place.

He hastily put Enzio in the pocket of his jacket. "I have to go, see you later then." Dino said running back into the market.

Haru knelt down and hoisted up the bag into her arms.

Yamamoto held out his hand.

Haru looked at Yamamoto curiously who was smiling at her with his carefree smile.

It looked like things were normal again?

"I can help you carry the bag home. It looks pretty heavy." Yamamoto said.

Haru huffed to herself, keeping the bag in her arms.

Yamamoto tilted his head in confusion wondering what brought about that reaction?

"Haru can carry this just fine, thank you. She doesn't need help. She wasn't even allowed to join the staring contest." Haru grumbled feeling sore over how she was left out.

Yamamoto laughed at her, rubbing the back of his head.

"You see… that was a … guy thing… we like… acknowledged each other as rivals sort of… I guess that's one way to see it as." Yamamoto explained.

The word 'rival' sparked Haru's interest.

What could they possibly want to compete with one another about?

They have always been on good terms. Did something change today?

"Rival? Over what?" She asked.

"Ah!- Come one, don't be so angry and let me help you, alright?" Yamamoto took her bag and quickly started to walk towards her house.

"Hahi! Yamamoto-kun! No fair! Tell me! Tell me! Haru demands to know!" Haru whined following after him.

Yamamoto would just laugh at her and ignore her questions by trying to change the conversation.

"Hey, did you know? A new cake store is about to open up, and apparently they will start giving out mini samples to the houses nearby. If we get one, you can come over and try it to see if you like their cakes." Yamamoto said.

Haru gasped. "Do you know the name of the cake shop? Do you know what their specialty cakes they have? Where is the shop located? You wouldn't mind me coming over? Yo- wait a darned minute. Yamamoto is trying to distract Haru-desu! That's not very nice! Answer Haru's question!" Haru raged hitting his back with her small fists, though she wasn't hitting him with a serious intent to hurt him.

She was only doing so playfully.

"Alright alright, I'll answer your question…" Yamamoto shook his head laughing nervously at Haru's adorable way of getting angry at people.

Haru smiled skipping in front of him, turning around to watch him as he would finally answer her question.

"Cake éclair, tiramisu is their specialty, the shop is located about 2 blocks away from where I live, and no, we wouldn't mind if you came over to try some cake." Yamamoto grinned, teasing her.

Haru gasped loudly, glaring at him.

"That wasn't the question that Haru was referring to! Yamamoto-kun is teasing Haru!" She complained waving her arms around in a pure blind rage.

Yamamoto only laughed at her still, finding her angry side to be so amusing and adorable much to Haru's discontent.

Yamamoto put a hand on top of Haru's head. "I swear, it's nothing that interesting. You wouldn't understand. It's a guy thing." He said.

Haru grumbled to herself words along the lines of: 'Haru could understand if you gave her a chance-desu,' 'So mean keeping secrets to yourself,' 'Haru is always being left out of fun things.'

Yamamoto stopped in front of her house and he handed her back the grocery back that he took from her.

"Ah, we're here already? You took this long to distract Haru from the question." Haru pouted having wanted to know about it.

Curiosity killed the cat, good thing that she wasn't a cat, huh?

"Well I should be going back now. Pops will probably need a bit of help around the shop again. So I'll see you around Haru. Try not to worry too much about things. After all you look the best with a smile." He laughed sprinting away from the house before she could stop him to attack him with more questions.

Haru tried to stop him but he escaped too quickly.

She gave up for now and she walked into the house to set down the groceries on the kitchen table for her mother.

"I got the groceries Kaa-san!" Haru shouted for her mother.

"Alright! Thank you, sweety!" Haru's mother shouted from the second floor.

Haru walked into the living room, peering out the window to see Yamamoto still running away.

"I'll get you soon enough. Don't worry. You can hide from me when we're at school." Haru muttered to herself, not wanting to give up so easily.

She's not known for being stubborn for nothing!

* * *

><p>Hopefully this worked for you all.<p>

I'm sort of splitting one day into two different chapters. Thought I would like to make this scene of Yamamoto and Dino being aware of each other as rivals into the main focus of a chapter.

Come on, having two male rivals being wary of each other is great isn't it? It totally deserves its own chapter. B3

-Neospice12


	8. 7: Not so Tiny Mishap

Hm, it would seem as though Neospice12 has not died, and she is still writing. She has taken a long break, and would apologize but she knows if she does, it'll just sound like an excuse so she will not make any excuses and hope you all accept her apology for being so slow.

ON WITH THE STORY WITHOUT FURTHER ADO.

Disclaimer: The characters of the series Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn do not belong to myself but to their respective creator, Amano Akira.

* * *

><p><strong>Not So Tiny Mishap<strong>

A shrill scream of a woman was heard echoing through the halls of the loving home that the girl Haru Miura grew up in.

Haru immediately bolted down the stairs and ran towards where he mother was.

"Kaa-chan! Are you okay? What happened? Why did you scream?" Haru questioned, scanning the room carefully hoping that there was no enemy in the house or things would get really messy quickly.

Her mother was pointing at something inside of the grocery bags that Haru brought back home not too long ago.

Haru slowly crept up to the bag and peered inside, almost to have her nose snapped off by some creature! She leapt back touching her nose as if to make sure that it was still attached to her face.

"Haru, I don't remember a turtle being on the grocery list that I gave you." Her mother said still on the opposite side of the kitchen.

"A turtle?"

Haru peered back into the bag slowly to see that Enzio was trying this best to climb out of the bag, but was having trouble in doing so.

Dino said that he was going to be washing Enzio, and you give a bath to something that wasn't there now could you?

She could only wonder how this mischievous turtle got into her shopping bags in the first place.

"I know who this turtle belongs to. I'll return him to his owner." Haru said slowly reaching into the bag and picked him out of the bag, being careful as to not scare the poor thing.

Haru tucked him into her arms securely and walked towards Tsuna's house to deliver the pet turtle.

She noticed that an inflatable pool and turtle cleaning supplies were laid out in the front yard of Tsuna's house.

Haru placed Enzio down in the inflatable pool and picked up the box explaining how to clean off the turtle.

"Well first things first, Haru would have to wet you down, right?" Haru looked to the side to see a bucket full of water, splashing it over the small turtle.

In a matter of seconds, the water soaked into the turtle and it was growing in size exponentially!

Haru squealed, moving away from the huge turtle.

"W-what is this-desu! Enzio is growing so quickly!" Haru ran behind the tree in Tsuna's front yard.

Hearing Haru's shout, Dino and Tsuna ran out of the house, ready to face whomever caused her such distress.

"E-Enzio? Where were you! I was looking for you, you bad turtle." Dino scolded his pet turtle that went up to Dino's stomach.

"RRROOOOAAWWW!" Enzio roared.

Dino laughed petting the turtle on the head.

"Well this will take more time, but we have to get you cleaned up. So what brings you here, Haru-chan?" Dino asked with a smile, picking up the wash cloth he was going to give Enzio a good scrubbing with.

Haru peaked out from behind the tree she was using for hiding herself from the monstrous turtle.

"E-Enzio had somehow found his way in Haru's shopping bags and she thought she'd bring him over, and when he got soaked in water, he… he… suddenly grew so much. I'm sorry, I didn't think that the water would mutate him." Haru apologized not knowing that Enzio just always grew when soaked in water.

Dino laughed at Haru's naivety.

It was cute.

With no danger being around, Tsuna walked back into the house helping his mother put away all of the groceries.

"Well would you like to help me?" Dino asked her, holding out another washcloth.

Haru smiled, nodding her head, walking over to the now large turtle.

Enzio turned his big head and tried to snap at her again like he tried to earlier. Haru hopped away from the turtle not wanting to risk her fingers.

Dino patted Enzio's head gently. "Now now Enzio be nice. Haru is a friend. No need to snap at her." Dino said.

Enzio dropped his head down low as if he were apologizing to Haru.

Haru slowly approached Enzio once more and he didn't try snapping at her again.

She took the washcloth from Dino's hand and she put some soap onto it and started to lather it all over Enzio's shell to make his shell all nice and sparkly clean.

Dino was working on cleaning the underside of Enzio.

Haru was being very careful of getting in between all of the grooves of his shell.

Enzio seemed to be enjoying the fact that he was getting a pretty good clean, his little turtle tail swaying from the side to side.

He was standing on his back legs, with Dino supporting him up with his shoulder. This little reptile looked as if he were dancing happily.

Dino glanced over at Haru, who was now just about finished with soaping Enzio's back.

He flicked his washcloth towards Haru, making soap suds fly at her.

She scrunched her nose, grinning and she attacked with her own soap suds attack, the washing Enzio project soon turning into a suds fight.

Haru laughed at Dino, dodging the soap suds that came flying her way, and Dino, being the clumsy guy he was got hit with all of the soap suds she sent his way.

She jumped onto her feet and ran away from him, throwing soap bubbles at him. Dino tried to chase after her, but he kept falling over and tripping over everything in the surrounding areas.

The fight finished once Enzio started a riot, resulting in Haru and Dino both having to calm him down.

Next, they had to get rid of all of the soap over his body with a different wet washcloth.

It was hard considering if putting too much water on Enzio would make him grow, they had to keep wetting the washcloth and make sure all of the soap was gone from his body.

It took time, but, it was still a fun endeavor.

"Finally, we finished. Aren't you happy Enzio? You are sparkly clean now." Haru giggled.

Enzio licked Haru's cheek and she started to clean up.

**ZZT PST TSS TSS TSS TSS**

Water started to sprout out from the ground.

Someone turned on the water sprinklers!

Wait, that means…- OH NO!

"RAAWWRR!"

Enzio was growing at an enormous speed looming over them all like a giant.

"AH! Enzio! Who turned on the water!" Dino shouted.

Haru squealed as Enzio was thrashing around the place, the soapy water, the towels and everything were being thrown around everywhere.

Upon hearing the screams Reborn and Tsuna ran out of the house to see a rampaging turtle.

"What's going on?" Reborn took notice of the huge monster in front of them and he didn't' say anymore.

It was pretty obvious what was going on. He walked back inside and turned off the sprinklers.

"Someone bring over a hairdryer quickly! We gotta shrink down Enzio!" Dino boisterously commanded.

Tsuna ran inside of the house and came out with a hair dryer.

Haru was busy trying to calm Enzio down before he destroyed even more things.

Another day, another mishap.

This is a normal day for the unfortunate 10th generation boss of Vongola.

"Hey, Dame Tsuna, don't forget to tell Dino." Reborn hollered.

"Oh yeah that's right!" Tsuna recalled.

Dino was hair drying Enzio as Haru was petting him gently to calm him down.

Curious, Dino stared at Tsuna, wondering whatever it could be that he needed to tell him.

Tsuna had a somewhat serious look on his face.

"Tsuna, what is it?" Dino asked.

"Ah, well we'd have to talk about it in private." Tsuna said.

Haru stopped petting Enzio, to stare at the two men talking. This didn't sound good at all.

It was fishy. Something... dangerous was going to happen.

"Is it..." Dino trailed off.

Haru's ears were wide open, wondering if she could piece together what this was about.

"About what I found under your bed earlier? I swear I didn't tell your mother about it." Dino said.

Tsuna shrieked, grabbed Dino's arm and ran inside.

"... Men." Haru huffed, taking the hairdryer that Dino dropped and continued to dry Enzio.

* * *

><p>This chapter and the previous one was to be one chapter, but then I realized I made a small mistake in planning so I had to split them.<p>

Also helped with stressing the fact that Yamamoto is also in the game, but ya know, whatever right? So, I apologize if you felt this chapter was short. Author's need leeway as well.

HOPE THIS WAS A GOOD READ EITHER WAY!

Ch. 7, huh? I'm finally half way through! OH YEAH! I really need to work on those lazy attacks I get. /sigh

Nu huh u… I'm sure I'll be a bit better at updating the next chapter, since… if any of you readers know me well enough by now, you'll know that I sort of love drama. I guess I'm a bit sadistic in that way? I LOVE IT WHEN A LOT OF PROBLEMS HAPPEN FOR CHARACTERS. It's beautiful. B3

Yes, meaning the next chapter will be the start of something. HA HA HA!


	9. 8: Impending Danger

Geez, sorry! I thought I had already typed this one out and uploaded it but I didn't? I actually had it all typed out but then... well computer issues. I ended up losing the finished chapter. I GOTTA TYPE IT ALL UP AGAIN. QAQ

Disclaimer: The characters of the series Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn do not belong to myself but to their respective creator, Amano Akira.

* * *

><p><strong>Impending Danger<strong>

"So Tsuna, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Dino asked curiously having used whatever he 'found' under Tsuna's bed as a cover up story.

Tsuna shifted a little bit in the place that he stood.

Reborn was watching them both patiently waiting for this conversation to get started.

"Ah… we just got a call from Romario-san. Dino-san… your famiglia got attacked just now. No casualties just yet, though so you don't have to worry about that. Romario-san helped keep everyone safe. He said that it was his duty while you were away." Tsuna said.

Dino bit on his lower lip and his fists were clenched tightly.

Being away from Japan was to lessen the pressure and to sway the enemy into not doing anything too drastic. It was probably known he went to Japan, and everyone who was ANYONE in the mafia knew that the tenth generation Vongola famiglia was stationed in Japan.

It would've looked like to anyone that he would request help from them, and the pressure would be put on the enemy to just give up.

Instead it backfired and they decided to attack while the boss was gone.

Here Dino was, relaxing and having a good time, getting to know a young woman better, maybe even possibly growing some strong attachment to her, all while his famiglia was fighting their hardest to stay alive for him to have a famiglia to return to.

He didn't know if he'd be able to face his famiglia once he returned to Italy, but even it would hurt his pride among other things, he was going to have to return.

It was his duty to protect everyone. They were all special to him, every single one of them was a part of his big family.

Their lives were dangerous, yes, but they all had immensely strong bonds. Their bonds were strong enough to make up for the danger.

Reborn could read the look in Dino's eyes. No matter what anyone could tell him, Dino would be flying back to Italy on the first flight there, and with connections, he'd most likely find a jet plane.

To hell with getting back conspicuously, once you attack his famiglia, the gloves are off, and it's go time.

"Reborn, I have to go back. My famiglia needs me. If it's a fight they want, it's a war they'll get." Dino hissed, the look in his eye, unlike anything anyone has seen before.

Tsuna has seen Dino irritated and worried, but he's never seen Dino this furious before. It didn't take a genius to know that once Dino was going to enter the fray, he wouldn't be thinking anything as kind as sparing lives. Anyone who was on the battle ground had a death sentence that was way overdue.

"Dino-san, please be careful." Tsuna told him.

Reborn tapped the top of Dino's head with a paper fan. "Just like Tsuna said. You better be careful and go in with a cool head. Don't get too overworked and mess up." He said, leavin some parting words for his previous student.

Dino smiled at the two of them and nodded his head. It was nice to know that he had companions on another side to help him out if he ever needed it. Of course if either of them needed help, he'd jump in to help no problems!

Dino bowed his head towards the both of them, "Thanks for taking care of me here up to this point. Now, I have to go back and show those guys who's boss. I'm sorry for all the trouble. I'll go and clean up my mess." Dino said turning around to walk out of the house.

Of course once he saw Nana, he greeted her and conveyed his thanks towards her as well.

Haru was still in the yard and she greeted him, holding the completely dried off turtle in her hands. "Haru finished drying him off while you both talked-desu." She held out the turtle for him but he pushed her hands towards herself.

"Can you do me a favor and watch over him for a little while? I want to know he'll be safe here." He said.

Haru looked down at the turtle not quite understanding what was going on.

Why would he be in danger if he was to stay with Dino? Well Dino was a mafioso and they lived pretty dangerous lives. So perhaps- it couldn't be. Could it?

"Dino-san, did something happen? Are you about to do something dangerous?" She asked, her heart pounding powerfully in her chest.

Was he going to go on a dangerous mission?

Could he be jumping straight into something dangerous?

Looking into his eyes desperately for denial but being unable to find any made her heart sink.

"You are, aren't you?" She asked, imploring him with her eyes to give her an answer.

He only nodded his head slowly.

Haru bit her bottom lip hating situations like these. Being with her friends for years, she was knowledgable of how dangerous and life-threatening the mafia world would be.

How horribly cruel some people were. She wanted so desperately to tell him 'don't go' but she figured if he was this determined to go it was very important to him. She had no heart to tell him such words.

"Please be safe. Haru will keep Enzio safe until you come back to get him." Haru said.

Dino smiled and patted the top of her head.

He didn't want to tell her that his chances of coming back alive weren't that great. Who could tell what would happen in the middle of a great maifa war? He could very well die in the middle or at the very end.

"Yeah, thanks Haru. I'll come back for him." Dino told her trying to reassure her that things will be fine. "I'll be going now." He said as he took out his phone.

They chose the wrong famiglia to mess with.

**"**Tsuna. If things start to look bad for the Cavallone famiglia, what are you going to do?" Reborn asked.

"Of course i'll lend help!" Tsuna declared.

That was his student.

Reborn smiled and he climbed into a hammok to take a nap.

He could rest at ease knowing that the situation should be fine. Dino and his famiglia were strong and if Tsuna was to join the battle- well obviously they would win.

The Vongola even had Varia on their side if things got tricky.

* * *

><p>HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!<p>

WHOO! After this there are only 6 chapters left! Only 6!

ALRIGHT! Things are starting to get a bit more fun(for me at least)! I'm pretty excited. The parts that I want to write about are coming up soon. OOOHHH I'm so excited now.

Hopefully I still have some readers out there who are still reading this. ^^

-Neospice12


	10. 9: Waiting is Cruel Punishment

I did say that I was going to like writing some of these later chapters for this story. Mua ha ha. I'm all excited now.

Along with me being pretty excited for this stuff, I'm also

Disclaimer: The only people that belong to me are the baddies. Other than that, none of the characters belong to me, and instead belong to their creator Akira Amano.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9- Waiting Is Cruel Punishment<strong>

Haru was sitting in class staring out the window blankly. She couldn't focus on class and just nothing could keep her attention for very long. It was hard because she was too worried about Dino, just like everyone else.

It was easy to see how worried Tsuna was because he looked more exhausted every passing day and he was looking more pale. He also had less energy. Gokudera however, was full of energy and was worried over his boss.

This only bothered Tsuna more because Gokudera was being more overbearing than normal but he didn't say that.

Yamamoto was a bit quieter than usual, which goes to show that everyone was affected by this. Dino was always there to help them if they needed it and he specifically asked to not bother in his affairs. It didn't seem right.

Though they all understood how he felt. It was his famiglia and he wanted to deal with it all on his own. Also, he couldn't possibly risk the Vongola getting hurt because of him and bring a huge change in the mafia world.

It's already been 3 days since Dino left. Haru felt a bit of movement in her desk and she brought a finger to her mouth and whispered a 'shhhhh' sound.

Enzio was getting very restless having been separated from his master for a full 3 days. He's never been away from Dino this long and it made him nervous.

He would constantly cry when he was left alone in Haru's room so she had no choice but to bring him to school with her secretely- of course she got permission from Hibari. It was tough but somehow she managed to get him to agree. She had Reborn's help.

The school week was almost over and perhaps they would finally get some word back on Dino's situation. It made her so worried that she just couldn't do anything.

She couldn't sleep, she could barely eat, and even cakes didn't seem all that appetizing to her right now. Yes, Haru Miura did not feel like eating cakes. The world was surely to end tomorrow.

The school bell rang and students rose to bow to their teacher before they all filed out of the classroom.

"Hey Haru, are you okay? You're not looking very good. You taking care of yourself?" Yamamoto asked her as she was carefully sneaking Enzio into her bag.

"Ah, Yamamoto. Haru is... fine. She's just very worried is all." She said.

Yamamoto nodded his head understanding how she felt since he was worried as well, but still he was still able to take care of himself.

Tsuna looked tired as well but he was still eating. After all his mother wouldn't let him get away with not eating.

Haru had lost some weight, and she wasn't smilling anymore. AH! It's not like he paid close attention to her weight on purpose or anything! He just... happened to be able to tell if anything about her changed.

Since he was watching her every day.

"You... are really concerned about Dino-san aren't you? You haven't been eating recently have you?" He asked.

Haru was about to fight back but then she tried to remember her last decent meal and nothing came to mind. She probably hasn't been taking very good care of her body now that she thought about it. She had nothing to say in her defense.

Yamamoto shook his head and sighed. He reached into his bag and tossed her an onigiri that was wrapped up in plastic. Probably one of the kinds you can get at a convenience store.

She looked at it inquistitively and noticed Yamamoto smiling brightly at her, "You can have one of my onigiri. You better eat it on your way home, alright? I'll get angry if you don't eat it."

Haru smiled and nodded her head. Yamamoto was so sweet, always looking out for his friends. "Thank you Yamamoto-kun."

Yamamoto shyly rubbed the back of his head, laughing happily. The smile on his face turned into a small frown, a nervous one.

He dropped his hands to the side and looked down at the ground, looking as if he was unsure if he wantd to say something else.

"If you want to say something, you can." She tried to coax him to say something.

Yamamoto opened his mouth but then closed it again.

He was debating with himself whether or not he wanted to ask what was on his mind.

"Y-you... ah... how do you feel about Dino-san? Do you... like him? Like... like-like him?" He asked.

Haru was shocked by his sudden question but she thought long and hard about it.

What exactly did she feel for Dino? When she thought about him it made her mood shoot up instantly and sometimes her heart would beat very fast.

Seeing him smile made her feel like she was the happiest person in the world, and this probably only meant one thing. She loved him.

Or at least, had a big crush on him. Which ever.

"I do." She answered.

Yamamoto looked down at the ground once more, looking as if he wanted to say something.

"So it ca- never mind. Well, I gotta go off to practice. I'll see ya around, Haru." Yamamoto flashed a smile at her quickly before running out of the classroom.

Haru couldn't help but think that his smile seemed fake, but she didn't think too much of it and she walked home.

* * *

><p>AH HA HA HA! I'm a jerk. I know. Sue me. I'm sorry Yamamoto. I really do love you, but teasing and tormenting my favorite characters is so much fun.<p>

I swear i'll write a happy fic for you one day. Really.

-Neospice21


	11. 10: War Only Brings Tears

In all honesty this chapter and the previous one could've been combined but because of reasons I kept them separate. Though since they're so similar i've posted them both at the same time.

Only a few more chapters to go!

Disclaimer: Yeah so the only people that belong to me are the baddies. Other than that, none of the characters belong to me, and instead belong to their creator Akira Amano.

* * *

><p><strong>War Only Brings Tears<strong>

Everyone was at Tsuna's house to hang out and they were also waiting to see if word from Dino would come in.

The atmosphere at the house was a heavy one. No one could really find it in themselves to say anything about it.

"So... Ah... What are we going to do once we get word?" Yamamoto asked the question that everyone was thinking about.

Tsuna's eyebrows furrowed as he thought about what he wanted to do. As the boss his words had a lot of weight to them. Of course if he had any idea that things weren't looking very good for Dino, he was going to do something about it.

Dino can get mad at him all he wants, but he just wanted his 'older brother' to be safe. He'll take all of the scolding later once he was sure that Dino was going to be okay.

The doorbell started to ring frantically and everyone jumped onto her feet and ran for the door. Once opening the door they saw Haru standing there panting heavily. It was hard trying to regain her breath.

The guys all sighed, fearing for the worst but it was only Haru. "Damn it woman! You scared us! There is a time and place for everything!" Gokudera yelled at her.

Haru lifted her head to glare at Gokudera, her complexion pretty pale.

Tsuna had a bad feeling about this since her eyes were also a little red. "Haru, did something happen?" He asked.

All of the guys went on high alert. Did something happen?

Haru dropped to the ground and she pulled out a piece of paper. "T-Tsuna, what's going to happen to Dino-san? I got this emergency letter. D-did something happen to Dino-san? Is he okay? He's going to be okay, right? He's not going to die is he?" Haru frantically asked questions on the verge of breaking down crying again.

"What does it say?" Tsuna asked.

Haru shook her head frantically, tears running down her face. "I don't know! Haru opened the letter but it was blank! The only thing on the top if a drawing of a flame!"

Reborn walked up to Haru and took the letter from her hands.

He grabbed Tsuna's hand and held it under the letter. "Light your flame." He instructed.

Doing as he was instructed Tsuna lit him flame and letters formed themselves. Everyone started to read the letter quickly.

"Tsuna, this isn't good. The famiglia took heavy damage and they'll continue doing so if the group keeps targeting the innocent. The Cavallone famiglia would never allow for the innocent to be involved in their issues." Reborn said.

Tsuna nodded his head looking down at the frantic Haru. She did a good job running all the way over with the letter. She must've been very worried, but why did she get the letter?

As if reading his mind, Reborn gave him an answer.

He knelt next to Haru and pulled something out of her pocket, it was Enzio! "This turtle has a tracking device on it. So if there are any important messages, they are sent to where Enzio is. Knowing that Enzio stayed in Japan, someone must've sent out this message." He explained.

Why would Enzio be bugged you ask? Well, a certain boss was always jumping on the first plane if he heard any dangerous rumors. So it was always a hassle trying to locate their boss, so secretly Enzio was bugged with a tracking device.

Tsuna nodded his head, "Alright, we're going to lend Dino-san a hand." He said.

"Not all of you. Some of you have to stay behind just in case something happens. They already know that Dino came to Japan, so they probably know that Vongola will retaliate if anything happened. Since they still attacked, no one knows if they'll hit here next. Some of you need to stay behind just in case." Reborn advised.

Tsuna's eyebrows furrowed even deeper, biting his lips nervously.

"Juudaime! I'll go! I'm from Italy and I know my way around so it'll be useful if I go." Gokudera volunteered himself.

Understanding that having him go would be a good idea, he agreed to let him go. Mukuro also probably knew his way around but he wasn't the type to help them so he was out of the question.

The next on his mind was the strongest of the Vongola guardians.

"Haru, go and tell Hibari what happened. After that, go home." Reborn told her.

She looked at Tsuna worriedly, tears still in her eyes. Her anxieties were getting the best of her. Tsuna smiled at her and nodded his head, trying to tell her that all would be fine.

Haru nodded her head slowly and she made haste towards the school because even if classes weren't in session over the weekend, Hibari was surely hanging out at the school.

After making sure that Haru was no longer in earshot, Yamamoto spoke up. "Tsuna. I'll go too. I'll make sure that Dino-san will come out of this alive." Yamamoto said.

Tsuna was okay with Hibari and Gokudera going since Gokudera knew the area and Hibari was strong but he wasn't sure if he wanted Yamamoto to go.

This would lessen their defenses in Japan.

Yamamoto had a serious look on his face and he wasn't easy to convince otherwise when he was in this state. "You have to tell me why." Tsuna argued.

Looking down, he answered, "I just want to make sure Dino can come back safely. I couldn't live with myself if he died and Haru cried her eyes out over him." He answered honestly.

Tsuna would probably do something similar if Kyoko had someone she loved the most in the world. Tsuna would do his best to keep that person safe to safe her from her tears.

"You like Haru-chan, don't you?" Tsuna asked.

Sporting a bitter smile on his face, he smiled. "Ha ha! I can't hide anything from you, can I? Please don't tell Haru. I don't want her to feel guilty over this. Dino-san has done a lot for us and I'd like to return the favor." Yamamoto added.

Tsuna was reluctant to let Yamamoto do this but he seemed so determined to do this, he couldn't tell his friend no.

"Promise me you'll come back safely. Both of you. I won't forgive you if you don't." Tsuna said.

Gokudera and Yamamoto both nodded their heads resolutely. "Of course Juudaime/Yeah, alright."

Later Hibari came over to announce that he was definitely going over there. How dare that herbivore lose to a bunch of weaker herbivores? What would that make him, who learned under Dino? That's right, that would make him a loser.

Hibari Kyouya was no loser. He was going to bite everyone to death. Everyone.

It was decided that Tsuna and Ryohei would stay behind to protect everyone else and he would soon send word to Kokuyo land that they would have to be wary as well. It was going to be tough, but they'll somehow manage.

* * *

><p>Ahhh Yamamoto. I love you. You precious baby. I'm sorry.<p>

Hope you all enjoyed this!

-Neospice21


	12. 11: Weight of Responsibilities

Okay so in my defense i've been looking forward to this. specific chapter. for a very long time. Seriously. Only because of one part makes me smile [because i'm a jerk] and so I had to write it all at once.

Wow, I'm almost done! I'm so happy. I can finally finish this story up. Do you know how stressful and tiring it is to have like 5 ongoing stories? Geez. [It SUCKS because I have more stories that I'm planning on starting afterwards. I'm going to die]

Disclaimer: Nothing really belongs to me as all the characters belong to Akira Amano, but the baddies belong to me.

* * *

><p><strong>Weight of Responsibilities<strong>

It's been 2 days since the guys left for Italy to help the Cavallone famiglia.

Perhaps they were too busy to report on their situation?

The school seemed less scary for some only because Hibari was gone.

Of course his goons were still around but they weren't as scary if Hibari wasn't around ordering them to beat up anyone who was crowding.

The school was peaceful for most people but there were those that found the school extremely nerve-wrecking.

Yamamoto and Gokudera weren't around and neither was Hibari. So if anything were to happen at school, there was a lower chance of them being able to protect everyone.

Luckily nothing ever happened at school, it was needless to worry about it.

After school, sometimes Haru would stay behind in the class just staring out the window blankly.

"Haru? You're still here?" Tsuna asked walking into the classroom to get something that he forgot.

She continued to look out the window, not realizing that she was just spoken to. She sighed, "I feel like going over there myself to see the situation... Ah but that's dangerous and stupid of me." She laughed quietly to herself.

"You definitely can't do that! I won't allow it!" Tsuna slammed his hands on the desk, shocking Haru out of her thoughts.

"Ha-Hahi!" She moved backwards and almost fell out of her chair. She pounded on her chest with her hand trying to calm herself down. She felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest!

Tsuna took the chair right next to him and sat down in it, waiting for Haru to calm down.

He looked at her face trying to gauge how she was feeling right now.

"Sorry for scaring you like that, but that's really a bad idea. Yamamoto would probably kill me if I let you." Tsuna said shivering at the mere thought.

Yamamoto was a loving guy. Everyone knew that. He was always so easy going and friendly but what everyone did not know is how scary Yamamoto could be when he was angry.

Haru huffed and rolled her eyes a little bit. "Haru knows that she shouldn't go over there. It's not safe and she'd only get in the way." She said.

Tsuna's face relaxed upon knowing that she really wasn't thinking about going there at all. He wouldn't know what to do if she was dead set on doing so since she was a stubborn one who stopped at nothing to get her way. Or at least, almost nothing.

He couldn't relax quite just yet however since upon looking at her closer he could see that she didn't look very good. She obviously wasn't sleeping very well and she wasn't eating still.

No wonder Kyoko said that she was worried about Haru. She was still smiling when she was with the group, but when she was alone she let her smile fade away.

"Haru, you need to take care of yourself more. Kyoko-chan has been really worried about you. You won't last that long if you don't take care of yourself." He said noticing how pale her complexion was.

It was easier to see now that the classroom was kind of dark and the light from the outside shone on her face.

Haru went back to looking out the window, thinking to herself. Her mind was full of how worried she was about Dino. Of course she worried about the others as well but she couldn't help but only focus on Dino. Call it a worried maidens heart perhaps?

Wait a moment.

Something he said didn't make sense.

"What did you mean by 'Yamamoto would kill me'? What does Yamamoto-kun have to do with this?" She asked.

Tsuna sat up straight and looked around the room nervously not expecting for her to ask him that.

Crap he let something slip and got her curious.

It hurt him to see that Haru hadn't realized how Yamamoto felt for her and he even went all the way to Italy to ensure that the guy she liked would come back to her.

He understood how it felt to like someone so much but have her not know how you felt. It hurt a lot.

"You really don't now? Yamamoto loves you. The main reason he went to Italy was to make sure that Dino would come back safe so you wouldn't cry over him. He just wants YOU to be happy, even if he has to watch you be with someone else." Tsuna's temper got the better of him and he told her everything.

Tsuna froze. OH NO!

He promised Yamamoto he wouldn't tell her anything! He didn't want Haru to feel jealous. Maybe... She'll take it well?

A small glimmer of hope blossomed in Tsuna's heart. He looked at her face slowly to see her shocked expression and tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"H-Haru didn't know he felt that way..." She said quietly remembering about all of those times he was there to support her.

Always around to protect her if she needed it. Was that why he had such a fake smile when she told him she liked Dino?

It all hit her. What he was going to ask before. Was he going to ask if he wasn't good enough for her?

"Ah! Please don't think too much about this. Yamamoto didn't want me to tell you because he knew you'd feel guilty." Tsuna tried to stop her from crying but it was too late.

Tears were rolling down her cheeks already. How could she be so cruel and stupid? How could she not realize his feelings for her?

She could only imagine how much pain he was going through. Of course she understood it very well since she used to have a big crush on Tsuna but he only had eyes for Kyoko. No matter what she did, and no matter how hard she tried, he wouldn't stop looking at Kyoko.

There were even times when she would think to herself, 'Why aren't I good enough? How am I inferior to her?' so much that it would hurt. She eventually grew out of her crush phase on Tsuna.

Memories of all of her tears she shed when she realized that Tsuna would never look her way romantically resurfaced in her mind. The emotional pain that went along with those memories came back.

Haru's guilt for unknowingly putting Yamamoto through all that pain hurt her deep. She cried in the empty classroom while chanting the words 'i'm so sorry,' and 'I didn't know' over and over.

Tsuna sat next to her and stayed with her as she cried. He held out a handkerchief and waited for her to finish crying.

Though the situation was awkward, he wanted to make sure she was going to be okay. She was a friend and he was going to make sure she'd be fine when she went home.

If anything were to happen to her when she's in this state, Yamamoto would surely kill him, if the guilt for letting her get into danger didn't kill him first.

"It's okay Haru. We didn't know either until he told us. Come on, stop crying. You just need to wait patiently and welcome them all back with a big smile, okay?" Tsuna consoled her.

Haru nodded her head dabbing her eyes with his handkerchief, trying her best to hold back her tears.

"Haru will greet them with the biggest and brightest smile she has." Her voice shook with every word she muttered.

It wasn't hard to see that she was worried. It's been two days since they've heard anything about what was going on.

What if something was going on? Did they get seriously hurt? Was the opposition really that strong? Or rather than being strong, maybe they just played dirty too much?

"Haru, it'll be fine, have faith in all of them." Tsuna told her, tapping her shoulder gently.

A small smile formed on her face and she nodded her head. She had to have confidence that the guys were going to be just fine.

They will definitely return to them with their usual smiles and their sounds of laughter.

She definitely was going to welcome them with a big smile on her face.

* * *

><p>Hahahha Yes Haru. Realize Yamamoto's feelings for you. Feel the guilt. FEEL IT. Yes, this is the part that I was looking forward to because I LOVE to torment people that I love sometimes. It's a lot of fun. Pfffttt<p>

Hope you liked this!

Since I just mass updated this, you can wait for me to update the other stories before I get to this one, right? Literally only 3 chapters left. I'll probably upload the last and second to last chapters at the same time, so this means there are only 2 updates left before this is done. 8)

-Neospice21

Ps: If I start taking too long to update feel free to message me on any site that I probably frequent to remind me to update. Sometimes I need reminders.

Not sure how much I can update after this. Gonna be busy with school. 2nd week starting up so this means more work. OTL


	13. 12: Dance Upon Fireflies

ALRIGHT EVERYONE! Time for chapter 12! AWW YEAH. Only two more to go I think? As I promised, the next time I update this, I'll post both chapters at once since the last one is like an epilogue kind of thing, so yeah it was easy to type out. I only have the next chapter to type out and we'll be set. They both won't be too long so yeah. I'm about ready to wrap this up.

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me but to the original creator Akira Amano. This is a work of pure fan-fiction.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12 - Dance Upon Firelies<strong>

The wait for the guys were unbearable to after not even a full week the whole situation was cleared and over. They all stayed a day or two extra to make sure that the situation was clear and that everything was situated.

Afterwards, everyone returned home. To make sure the young teenagers would be okay, Dino accompanied them back to Japan. Of course there was the fact that he wanted to see Haru again, but don't let anyone know that okay?

At the airport everyone else was waiting for their friends to return from battle.

Haru was pacing around nervously, staring at the door that people were piling out of.

Once she saw some familiar faces she ran over to them, with full intentions to hug them all- okay, cross that.

All of them minus Hibari.

He probably wouldn't accept hugs, and Haru wasn't about to find out whether he would or not.

"Guys! You all came back safely! Thank goodness!" Tsuna noticed them after Haru took off running and he ran towards them all right next to her.

Gokudera of course stood at attention and saluted. "Of course Juudaime! We all had to come back safely! I wouldn't allow anyone else to take the right-hand man position after all." Gokudera said.

Tsuna only laughed at Gokudera's enthusiasm and how his goal to be his right hand man has never changed over the years.

Everyone knew Gokudera had been aiming for that role for a long time and they all just jotted it down as an unwritten rule that only Gokudera could serve as the right hand man.

Haru had launched herself into someone's arms and everyone turned their heads to see Haru launching herself into Dino's arms- that's not Dino.

Wait. That's not Dino.

"Eh? Haru? Are… you okay?" Yamamoto asked looking at Tsuna with wide eyes, pointing at the woman who launched herself into his arms with his eyes.

Tsuna shrugged his shoulders, not quite understanding what Haru was doing either.

"You know Haru… ah… not that this isn't a nice, warm welcome or anything but… you know Dino-san is over there." Yamamoto pointed over to Dino who was staring at the scene play before him with wide eyes.

Why did he come back to Japan early again?

What was going on? What was this development?

Haru looked at Yamamoto and puffed out her cheeks angrily. "I know who you are Yamamoto-kun. Haru isn't stupid. I'm just… really glad that you came back safely." She said before burying her face into his chest. "… I'm sorry. Thank you for bringing Dino back safely." She spoke quietly.

Yamamoto glared in Tsuna's direction who felt his blood freeze and gave Yamamoto an apologetic smile.

Gokudera scowled at Yamamoto, giving him a warning glare to avert his eyes from Tsuna.

Haru seemed to notice Yamamoto's anger and whapped his arm playfully. "Don't get mad at him. I basically forced it out of him. If you're going to get mad at anyone and hit someone, Yamamoto should just hit Haru." She huffed.

Yamamoto mentally sighed and shook his head.

This girl was really unfair. How could he possibly hit her?

He'd have to forgive Tsuna for telling Haru some unnecessary things this time around.

Yamamoto patted the top of her head, "Its fine Haru. I only wanted to see her smiling face again. So show me a smile, okay?" Yamamoto flashed her one of his own smiles, prompting her to smile back at him.

'That stupid baseball head can be pretty suave.' Gokudra thought bitterly.

'Wow… he's a natural at this' Tsuna thought in awe.

Dino coughed into his fist and walked himself over to Reborn to report all of the details of what happened.

"AH! That's right! There is a festival later today. Perfect timing! Let's all go and have fun!" Tsuna announced.

Everyone thought it was a perfect idea and made plans to meet up at the festival to have a night full of fun.

Haru dressed up in a Kimono because the other girls wanted to dress up in a pretty Kimono for the festival. When going to a festival, it called for going all out and cracking out the Kimonos!

They were going to dress nicely and have a ton of fun!

Haru met up with Kyoko and they both walked over to the festival together, obviously getting some looks along the way. Chrome said that she may come if she could manage to convince Chikusa and Ken to come with her.

A few hours prior Haru was troubled over whether she wanted to go to the festival with Yamamoto or with Dino. If she wasn't aware of Yamamoto's feelings the answer would've been obvious but she just couldn't make a decision. She was just too aware of Yamamoto and his feelings for her to ignore them!

After a long time of stressing over who to go with, Haru opted to go with the easiest choice: Go with a female friend like Kyoko.

"Hey, you two cuties are alone right? Want to scoop some goldfish together? Maybe get something to eat?" These two guys walked up to the girls.

They looked like total sleaze-balls.

Before the girls even had to do anything, a few people came to their rescue. "I'm sorry but they're not alone so please leave them alone." Tsuna stood in front of Kyoko wanting for the guys to leave her alone.

Once the guys glared at Tsuna, Gokudera had lit a stick of dynamite behind Tsuna to make the guys back off.

Here Tsuna was thinking that he may have grown a bit of a presence over the years, but it was really just Gokudera doing his job as the right hand man. At least he thought it was his duty as a right hand man.

In Haru's case, she also had two guys come to her rescue: Dino and Yamamoto.

Both of their icey glares alone made the guys run away with their tails between their legs.

"Ah… thank you both." Haru thanked them both.

Dino held out his hand for Haru to hold onto and Yamamoto just took Haru's other hand without any warning. Haru grabbed Dino's hand and looked down at her hands.

"Ha-hahi?" What did she just get herself into?

Kyoko giggled to herself and quietly urged Tsuna and Gokudera to leave with her so Haru could be alone with Dino and Yamamoto.

They all left when Haru wasn't paying attention. "K-Kyoko-chan?" She called out to her friend.

"It looks like she wanted to give us some time alone." Dino said.

Haru felt so betrayed but she knew that if Kyoko was in the same situation, she'd probably do the same thing. She couldn't feel too betrayed by this.

"Ah… so… what shall we do?" Haru asked nervously.

The two shrugged and let Haru lead them around on whatever she wanted to do. The two followed her around to keep her safe from some scumbag and from each other.

The whole time Yamamoto and Dino were giving each other death glares.

Haru couldn't help but feel nervous as they continued to glare at each other the whole time. Weren't they all supposed to have fun? What's with this animosity?

Kyoko was probably having a lot of fun right now.

Haru would walk around and look at the little games to play or at the cute little things that were being sold at the stands.

"Are you two even having fun? All you are doing is glare at each other. Is that fun?" Haru asked.

Yamamoto shrugged and lightly tugged on Haru's hand, "Why? Do you want to be with me alone?" He asked her playfully.

Haru's cheeks flushed and Dino was the one to tug on her hand next. "If you think I would let you take such a pretty young miss away from me, you'd better think again." Dino said bringing Haru's hand up to his face and planted a kiss at the back of it.

Haru's heart was beating quickly and her face was on fire!

Can someone just save her from this heavenly torment? She loved having attention but this was a bit too much.

There was so many people around and they were all looking at the three of them. Some were looking at how cute Haru was, and some were looking at how good looking Yamamoto and Dino were.

They were the subject of envy for a lot of the people gathered there tonight.

The trio mainly walked around and bought a ton of snacks and ate them all. Dino came to Japan alone so he didn't have any of his men around him.

How he managed to poke himself in the way with a cotton candy stick Haru would never know.

Initially Haru was feeding Dino to ensure that he didn't lose an eye from just attempting to eat festival food, but eventually it turned into Yamamoto trying to feed him instead.

Guess watching Dino get fed by Haru was too much for him. Yamamoto was basically trying to force food down Dino's throat at this point!

Guys could be so scary!

Haru quickly poked a takoyaki ball and held it out for Yamamoto. "Yamamoto-kun, the takoyaki is really good, try it. Say ahh~"

Yamamoto stopped trying to force food down Dino's throat and took the takoyaki ball and ate it. "Thanks Haru, it's good." Yamamoto smiled cheerfully.

Geez walking around with these two was turning out to be really tiring.

"Do you think there is a place where we could stop and rest at?" Haru asked, scanning the crowd. There was a lot of people around so finding a place to rest at wasn't going to be easy.

The three walked around looking for a place to stop at when something glowing caught Haru's attention.

She walked away from the festival and into a small gathering of trees. Once she made it past these trees she happened upon a very small lake.

No one else was around except for Haru and the other two who tagged along.

The small lake was beautiful with how it reflected the big moon in the sky along with the stars.

Haru was admiring the sight until she saw the glowing lights she saw earlier that were outlining the lake float up towards the sky

They were fireflies!

They looked so pretty flying around in the sky blinking their lights on and off.

Haru looked up at the fireflies flying around in awe. The night sky was filled with more lights than normal! The lights from the stars and those of the fireflies.

It was beautiful. Her eye were fixated on the flying illuminating insects while the two men on either side of her were fixated on something else.

"This is such a beautiful sight~ Haru wishes that she could look at it forever~" She sighed dreamily at the sight before her.

It was a good thing that they somehow stumbled upon the lake to see all of the fireflies fly out of them and into the sky.

The two next to her gave an answer of agreement.

Haru looked at the lake that they stumbled upon and noticed that the two weren't even looking up at the sky but at her from the reflection off the lakes water.

That itself as shocking but it looked like the two of them were about to do something even more shocking! From their reflections, Haru could see that the two were moving in close.

Were they going to…?

'EH!? Haru is in a pinch-desu!' Haru closed her eyes and felt the two kiss her cheeks. 'HA-HAHI- HAHI HAHI! MAJOR PINCH-DESU!' Haru screamed inside of her head.

Haru let go of their hands and moved away from them. What in the world were they doing!?

"Oh wow. Ah. Sorry. Didn't know we were interrupting something. Ahh let's… let's go over there or something." Tsuna started to push Gokudera and Kyoko another way.

"Ha-Hahi! Haru is so embarrassed now-desu!" Haru covered her face with her hands.

"You know Haru, you're going to have to choose sometime. You aren't going to make us wait forever, right?" Yamamoto asked.

Haru lowered her hands and looked down at the ground, thinking about his question. Surely it wouldn't be fair to keep them waiting but she just couldn't make a decision at this very moment.

Did she really like Dino, or was it just a little puppy crush?

She never thought too much about Yamamoto before but was that because she felt so comfortable around him? Isn't that a good thing to feel so comfortable around someone? Do you chose someone based on how comfortable you feel around them?

"Haru… needs some time to think this through." She spoke honestly.

Yamamoto and Dino both understood how she felt so they both took her hands once more, "We'll walk you home Haru."

If possible, they'd like to hear an answer as soon as possible but she was probably very confused and they couldn't just force an answer out of her. That wasn't fair.

So for now, they were just going to be patient for a little while longer and see what her heart decides on.

The two walked her to the front of her house and waited for her to walk into the house before she left.

"No hard feelings for whenever she does choose, right?" Yamamoto questioned the older male.

"Of course. It'll only make her feel guilty if there were hard feelings." Dino answered before the two of them parted ways, hoping to hear a good answer the next time they saw Haru.

* * *

><p>This chapter gave me so much issues. Either I've lost my touch or I don't even know what the reason is. I dunno. I hope that this chapter was okay. OTL<p>

I'm sorry, I tried.

-Neospice12


	14. 13: Complications of the Heart

Okay yeah, well I don't know if anyone has caught on yet but I'm updating whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like it. I just wanted to hurry and finish this up pretty much since it was nearing the end. So here we are.

Disclaimer: The only thing that belongs to me is this particular work of written work and the laptop it was written on. The character within this story do not belong to me and they belong to their creator, Akira Amano.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13- Complications of the Heart<strong>

It was the next morning and Haru had already woken up and gotten herself ready to start her day.

She walked downstairs to be greeted by both of her parents who had already started eating breakfast without her. Haru sat down in her seat with a heavy sigh.

"Sweety, what's wrong?" Her dad asked, obviously quite worried about his little princess that he spoiled because she was so cute. It was normal for all dads to spoil their daughters to that extent, right? RIGHT?

"Haru is a little confused right now. Kaa-san, what made you decide to marry Otou-san?" Haru asked.

The mother thought about it long and hard before she shrugged. "I don't know. He proposed and I just thought 'I could be happy with him' and I said yes. Otou-san looked like he would cry if Kaa-san didn't say yes." Haru's mother chuckled.

A flustered cough was heard at the table which made the two women laugh. He was such a funny man, but he was a good father and husband.

Haru could only hope that whomever she married in the future would be as wonderful as her father.

"Say that Haru liked someone who was over 5 years older than her, or a guy who was her same age… would it matter which ever one I married?" Haru asked. "Hypothetically speaking, of course." She added.

The two parents thought about it and the father spoke up first, "I suppose that having someone your age would be best. Have someone your age to grow old with." He answered.

The mother didn't really have much of a preference but she still gave her thoughts to her daughter, "I personally think that whomever you liked the most is someone you should marry. A big age gap can hinder a few things in a relationship but as long as your love is strong enough that can be overcome. As for marrying someone your age, as long as he will be mature enough to try to take care of you, that's all I care about." She said.

Haru was going to take her parents opinions to heart. This was something to take seriously. Her parents weren't completely aware of what Tsuna and the others were doing but they had a slight hunch that what they did wasn't exactly safe.

It could be pretty dangerous at times, but they couldn't forbid their daughter from associating with the group because Haru would outright refuse them.

It was not in their best interest to spoil her and let her do what she wanted. She was too willful and she was always getting herself into trouble, but another way of looking at it: Haru was able to do a lot on her own.

She wasn't scared to go out and look for her own happiness.

"Does this have something to do with your friends who play those dangerous games?" Haru's mother managed to ask.

Haru looked down at her plate which still had a bit of food on it.

She nodded her head slowly and a loud sound was heard at the table.

"Why must you associate with them? Isn't it dangerous? Are you TRYING to give us a heart attack?" Her father shouted.

Haru's mother rushed over to his side to calm him down.

He viewed Haru as his precious little princess and the mere thought of her getting hurt broke his heart. He wouldn't allow it!

What kind of father would say, 'okay sure, take my daughter's hand in marriage and probably get her killed!' Not this man. He refused.

Haru bit at her bottom lip and excused herself from the dinner table.

"Haru can't stop associating with them because they are my friends and they only fight for what is right. They always get hurt to protect all of us. While they get hurt, someone has to protect them from being lonely! Haru won't stop being friends with them!" She shouted and ran out of the house to cool herself off.

"Honey, Haru has always come home safely even when associating with them. I worry for her too, but… if you try to control her too much who knows what will happen. We just need to trust her judgement." Her mother spoke gently. "That, and we can give the guy a hard time if he ever asks for her hand in marriage. We can't give her away without a good fight, right?" She chuckled.

No one could take Haru away that easily, that's for sure.

One could only feel some pity for the one who would want to marry Haru in the future. The parents were cooking up some trouble for the poor guy.

Haru had ran out of the house and stopped at a park.

She sat down on a bench and thought to herself silently about what she wanted to do. She understood where her parents were coming from, but she still couldn't bring herself to cut ties with everyone.

Sure, their line of work could be pretty dangerous, but they did what they did to keep everyone safe. They were not bad people and she couldn't tolerate anyone who talked badly upon them.

Off to the side, she saw some flowers scattered around the bench.

She plucked a flower with the most petals and she started to pull off the petals one by one.

"Dino, Yamamoto, Dino, Yamamoto," and she repeated this until she finished plucking off the petals.

"Yamamoto…huh?" Haru's gaze was on the last petal that she plucked off last.

Placing her hand over her chest, she felt her heart beaten inside of her chest.

She had to listen to her heart, and she had to make a decision.

"Okay! Haru will do just that, then. Thank you ." Haru hopped off of the bench and she ran out of the park with full intentions of finding the very person she was wanting to see.

* * *

><p>Yes.<p>

Yes, I am evil. This is not a drill, you have been left on a cliffhanger of sorts.

Don't worry. I have the chapter after this already written so you don't have to wait too long for it. =w=

Hope you enjoyed it!

-Neospice12


	15. 14: The Choice

Ha ha ha, well I hope you enjoy this. It was great going on this adventure with all of you.

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me but to the original creator of these characters.

* * *

><p><strong>The Choice<strong>

Footsteps were pounding against the ground.

Eyes dashing from side to side as if looking for someone.

There he was!

Her legs started moving quicker, a sense of excitement running through her veins.

She ran through the hall way and launched herself at the back of the tall blond man.

"Woah! You should be careful, you could've hurt yourself." He rebuked the girl as he managed to grab her before she fell of his back.

He was holding her in his arms with a big smile.

"So what do I owe the visit of my princes today?" He asked, rubbing his nose against hers.

"Mommy said that when I grow up, I can marry Hoshi!" The girl cheered.

The man looked over at his wife who came out of the kitchen with a smile.

He tilted his head to the side, not knowing who this Hoshi character was.

Well, he supposed it didn't matter since she was too young to be getting married. She was only 5!

"Cecile? Who is Hoshi?" He asked.

The hyperactive child pointed to an empty space.

Looking at his wife for help, she chuckled and answered. "Cecile, daddy can't see Hoshi. His imagination isn't strong enough." She said.

The little girl gasped in utter horror. "That's not good! Mommy! We have to feed daddy a lot of rainbows and lollies!" Cecile struggled out of her father's arms and ran towards her mother, tugging on her skirt.

Haru laughed again and nodded her head before heading back into the kitchen. "Hai hai, when you ask people favors, what do you say?"

"Por favor, please, or Onegaai?" She tilted her head to the side, cutely.

Haru knelt down and patted her daughter's head. "That's my girl."

Cecile was a beautiful child. Well of course, she was. She and Dino made one hell of an attractive couple.

Cecile had Haru's smile and her big eyes. She had Dino's hair color, and Haru's hair whorl. Her voice was cute and lovely like a bell. She had rosy cheeks and a very fair complexion.

"Hey, that's right. Isn't Misa coming over today with his father?" Dino as he was feeding Enzio.

Haru looked at the calendar on the wall noticing a red star on the date of today.

Yamamoto was scheduled to come over for some mafia related business and he promised his own daughter that he'd bring him over so he could play with Cecile while he was doing his work.

"You're right. Cecile, did you clean your room yet? You can't play with Misa with a messy room." Haru said.

Cecile gasped loudly, shouting 'I'll clean it right now!' before running up to her room.

Misa was 1 year younger than Cecile was and they were such good friends. It was hard for them to get together since they lived in Italy while the other family lived in Japan.

"I wonder how his wife is doing." Haru wondered to herself.

"I hear she's great. Hear their working on their second child already." Dino said.

Haru had an excited look on her face. She was going to have to plan a baby shower! Oh how wonderful!

Babies were so wonderful and adorable!

Dino walked into the kitchen and stood behind her, noticing that she wasn't paying attention.

She was too busy gushing over her baby shower ideas.

"You know, we can always have another child if you want." He spoke into her ear with a seductive tone which sent shivers down her spine.

Cecile is getting a baby sister or brother!? YAY! WHEN!?" Cecile ran down after literally shoving everything under her bed.

"Ha-hahi! Ce-Cecile! Wait! Mommy isn-" **DING DONG**!

Cecile ran for the front door and opened it. "Misa! Guess what! Mommy is going to give me a baby sister or brother!" She shouted.

Misa giggled and answered, "Mine too!"

Haru removed herself from Dino's hold and walked over to the doorway completely red in the face. Yamamoto seemed to be a little flustered as well.

"Ha ha, kids talk too much, don't they?" He laughed.

She nodded her head and ushered the two girls inside so they could play. The two girls wasted no time in running towards Cecile's room so they could play.

"Well we'll watch over Misa for you today. Don't worry about it." Haru said.

"Ha ha, thanks about that. Misa has been bugging me to take her along with me." Yamamoto laughed his characteristic carefree laugh which hasn't changed in years. "I'll come back for you later, Misa!" He shouted.

"It's okay! You don't have to come back, I'll stay and play with Cecile forever!" She shouted back.

Yamamoto's mouth flew wide open.

He sure had a cheeky kid.

Well, he did hear that he was a bit cheeky as a child too.

Haru couldn't help but laugh at how cute Misa was.

Yamamoto bid his farewells and left to do whatever it was that he had to do in Italy.

* * *

><p>Ha ha ha, yes. I went straight to a time skip. Now you can't know how they got together and all that.<p>

Use your imagination.

In all honesty, I only did this because if she went and told Dino she loved him, you know what that means? I'd have to write her going 'I'm sorry Yamamoto-kun but I don't feel the same way as you' and that hurts me on a deep emotional level, so I opted for a time skip.

SHHHHH it's okay. Your imagination will sooth you.

OH. I also didn't come up with a name for Yamamoto's wife because I didn't want to come up with one, and because if you want, you can think of yourself as his wife. Hahahahhahahahahahahah

You know you love the idea. I know I do.

-Neospice12


End file.
